Back to the future
by Charlie Hayden
Summary: Anakin Skywalker traveled 22 years into the future to find things have drastically changed. Now he's back and he must find a way to change fate and stop the sith from taking over. The clock is ticking fast until the Empire rises. Prequel to Ties
1. Arrival

Anakin Skywalker dipped his jedi star fighter down into a steep dive after the separatist droid ship and fired at it. When the droid ship pulled out of the dive just short of an asteroid intending for Anakin to crash into it, Anakin pulled out of the dive just in time to continue following the ship.

"Stop pulling suicidal stunts, Anakin, and get up here!" Obi-Wan shouted into the comlink.

"Just one more shot and the ship will be gone, Master" Anakin answered firing at the ship. The ship eluded Anakin's firing again. Anakin cursed in Huttiese and continued following the droid ship.

"Anakin, forget about the ship! I need you up here."

"Yes, Master," Anakin said leaving the ships trail and flying up to where Obi-Wan was fighting a separatist ship, only for the droid ship to shot at him from behind. The last thing Anakin heard was Obi-wan shouting his name.

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Anakin opened his eyes only to be blinded by intense light. The temperature around him was intense. He groaned and tried to focus on what was so bright. It was two suns, two incredibly bright suns. Looking around him, he saw nothing but sand. He was on Tatooine! How in the blazes did he get on Tatooine?! Anakin didn't have time to ponder this because he felt someone coming. He quickly got up and searched for a place to hide, which he saw as he spotted the beginning of a canyon. Anakin quickly reached the canyon and hid, watching as a farm boy in a speeder flew past with a protocol droid in the other seat. What is a farm boy doing with a protocol droid? With his quick jedi reflexes he managed to follow the farm boy and found that he had stopped to catch up on an astromech droid. From his position on the rocks he could hear the boy chastise the droid. And worry about the trouble he'll get into for letting the droid run away. That's when he heard the call, the boy must have heard them too because he quickly grabbed a weapon from the speeder and climbed the cliff on the other side out of Anakin's view range. Anakin heard the loud grunts of the sand people and a moment later the sand people appeared dragging the farm boy and taking what they could from the speeder, before tearing an arm off of the protocol droid. That is until they heard a loud call and a tall hooded figure appeared out of nowhere. Before Anakin could do anything, the sand people scattered away. Anakin watched at the hooded figure approached the boy. He pulled down his hood and Anakin saw that he was an old man who checked on the boy. The old man turned to cliff below Anakin and spoke seeing the astromech droid which came out of hiding at the mans insistence. Anakin watched at the boy groaned and spoke the man's name, Ben Kenobi, Anakin wondered if Ben were related to Obi-Wan. Anakin listened to the conversation.

"The Jundland wastes are not to be traveled lightly. Tell me young Luke, what brings you out this far?" Ben said

"Oh, this little droid! I think he's searching for his former master...I've never seen such devotion in a droid before...there seems to be no stopping him. He claims to be the property of an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours? Do you know who he's talking about?" The boy said

"Obi-Wan Kenobi...Obi-Wan? Now thats a name I haven't heard in a long time...a long time. " Ben said

"I think my uncle knew him. He said he was dead."

"Oh, he's not dead, not...not yet."

"You know him!"

"Well of course, of course I know him. He's me! I haven't gone by the name Obi-Wan since oh, before you were born."

Anakin didn't believe it, that old man couldn't be Obi-Wan, he was lying! Unless he was Obi-Wan's father and Obi-Wan was named after him...

"Then the droid does belong to you." Luke said getting up.

"Don't seem to remember ever owning a droid. Very interesting..." Obi-Wan looked around, "I think we better get indoors. The Sandpeople are easily startled but they will soon be back and in greater numbers." Old Ben said. And the two of them got up and got into the speeder along with the two droids, the protocol droid with it's arm ripped off..

Anakin followed them at quick speed. By the time he reached the hut where the speeder was parked both humans and droids were inside. Anakin carefully backed himself against the wall closed enough to the window to hear and sense what was going on inside, but not close enough to be detected. He listened to the conversation.

"No, my father didn't fight in the wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter." Luke said

"That's what your uncle told you. He didn't hold with your father's ideals. Thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved." Ben answered back.

"You fought in the Clone Wars?" Luke asked excited.

"Yes, I was once a Jedi Knight the same as your father." Ben told him.

Anakin frowned in confusion, the jedi weren't allowed to get married, it was against the code. If a jedi broke the code, then they were expelled from the jedi order. That's why he kept his marriage to Padme a secret. He continued to listen to the conversation.

"I wish I'd known him." Luke said wistfully.

"He was the best star-pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior. I understand you've become quite a good pilot yourself. And he was a good friend. Which reminds me..." Ben said and Anakin heard a bit of rummaging. "I have something here for you. Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damned-fool idealistic crusade like your father did." Ben said.

Anakin peeked into the window briefly to see the old man hand the boy a lightsaber. Anakin stared in Awe as the boy activated the lightsaber after being told what it was and who it belonged to.

"An elegant weapon for a more civilized time. For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire." Ben told the boy. Anakin frowned. What empire?

"How did my father die?" Luke asked suddenly.

"A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force." Ben told him.

Anakin was shocked. No, the jedi weren't extinct! Where was he? How did he get here. He backed away from where he was, tripped and fell over something which made a noise. And he began cursing in huttiese. Suddenly the old man was on him, lightsaber ready and Anakin began to panic and he never panicked!

"Who are you!" The old man demanded.

"Obi-Wan! If that is you, I don't know how I got here! One minute of was fighting a separatist droid ship and then I was here!" Anakin told him.

Ben/Obi-Wan looked at Anakin hard for a moment before lowering his weapon. "Anakin?" he asked not wanting to believe it for some reason.

"So you remember me?" Anakin said grinning out of nervousness.

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Anakin, a feeling animosity flowing from Obi-Wan towards Anakin for a moment making Anakin's grin fade.

"Did I do something wrong, Master?" Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan smiled and helped Anakin up and hugged him. "It's been a long time since you've died," Obi-Wan told him and let him go. "Whatever you do, Anakin, don't tell anyone who you are, it'll be too dangerous for everyone, especially you. I can't bare to loose you twice."

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan questionably for a moment. "I don't like this," he said.

"Careful Anakin, you've traveled into the future, there are many things you'll find that you wont like," Obi-Wan said ushering Anakin inside where Luke had finished putting the protocol droid back together and was cleaning the tools.

"Sir, if you'll not be needing me, I'll close down for awhile." the droid said. Luke nodded, "Sure go ahead," he said and the droid shut down. "We have a guest," Obi-Wan said to Luke who looked up. Luke stood up as Obi-Wan busied himself in the small kitchen. "I'm Luke Skywalker. Judging by the way you're dressed, you're not from around these parts," Luke said introducing himself. Anakin shot Obi-Wan a sharp look before answering Luke. "You could say that," he told the boy who appeared to be not that much younger than he was, just how far into the future were they in? "Well, what's your name, where are you from?" Luke asked. "It's not important," Anakin told him. "Not important? I think a persons identity is very important," Luke said and finished cleaning the tools. "His name is Anakin and he's from Coruscant," Obi-Wan said kneeling down to the astromech droid. "Now, let's see if we can't figure out what you are, my little friend. And where you come from," he said. "I saw part of the message he was..." Luke began but was interrupted when Artoo projected the image of a beautiful young princess. Anakin leaned forward as the girl it was projecting was the very image of Padme. "I seem to have found it," Obi-Wan said smiling. "General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope." the image of the princess said before shutting off. Obi-Wan leaned towards Luke and said, "You must learn the ways of the Force if you're to come with me to Alderaan." Luke laughed, "Alderaan? I'm not going to Alderaan. I've got to get home, it's late. I'm in for it as it is." he said. "I agree with Obi-Wan, we're going to need your help Luke," Anakin said speaking up. 

"We need your help, Luke. She needs your help. I'm getting too old for this sort of thing," Obi-Wan said.

"I can't get involved! I've got work to do! It's not that I like the Empire. I hate it! But there's nothing I can do about it right now. It's such a long way from here," Luke protested.

"That's your uncle talking," Obi-Wan told him.

Luke sighed. "Oh, God, my uncle. How am I ever going to explain this?" he said. "Look, I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you're going."

"You must do what you think is right, of course," Obi-Wan said.

"Obi-Wan I must speak with you," Anakin said and glanced at Luke who was standing in the corner now. "In private," he added.

"I have a room in the back," Obi-Wan said motioning for Anakin to follow him. They entered what appeared to be Obi-Wan's bedroom.

"Okay, spill old man," Anakin ordered, "Where's Padme?"

"Are you sure you want to know, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I need to know," Anakin told him.

"A sith by the name of Darth Vader attacked her, she died shortly after giving birth, she wasn't strong enough to make it after the attack," Obi-Wan told him gently.

"Who is this Darth Vader and where did he come from?" Anakin asked him pacing.

"It doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that you have a son out there who never knew his father. I suggest you get to know each other," Obi-Wan .

Anakin looked out into the desert, "How long ago did I die, Obi-Wan?" he asked.

"Twenty years ago, just as the Empire took over,"

"Who's the Emperor?" Anakin asked him.

"I've told you enough. Get to know your son, Anakin. Before it's too late," Obi-wan said and left the room with Anakin on his heals.

Luke turned to them. "If you're going to Anchorhead I can take you now," he told them.

Obi-Wan turned to Anakin and then nodded to Luke, "Lets go then."

Anakin approached Luke, "I really wish you would change your mind Luke," he said.

"I can't, My uncle needs me on the farm," Luke told him and left the hut followed by the other including the droids.

On their way to Anchorhead they came across a burning wreckage of of a sandcrawler. Obi-Wan ordered them to stop and inspect the damage. Scattered along and around the burning sandcrawler lay the dead bodies of Jawas. The group got out hoping to find the jawas alive.

"It looks like Sandpeople did this, all right. Look, here are Gaffi sticks, Bantha tracks. It's just...I never heard of them hitting anything this big before," Luke said pointing out the Gaffi sticks and Bantha tracks.

Obi-Wan crouched in the sand. "They didn't. But we are meant to think they did. These tracks are side by side. Sandpeople always ride single file to hide there numbers," he said.

Luke looked around before looking up, "These are the same Jawas that sold us Artoo and Threepio," he said.

"And these blast points, too accurate for Sandpeople," Anakin said.

"Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise ," Obi-Wan pointed out.

"Why would Imperial troops want to slaughter Jawas?" Luke asked. He looked around and saw the two droids inspecting the dead bodies. " If they traced the droids here, they may have learned who they sold them to. And that would lead them home!" he raced towards the speeder and got in.

"Wait Luke it's too dangerous!" Obi-Wan shouted.

Anakin ran and leaped into the speeder before Luke could speed off. "I'm coming with you," he said. Luke only nodded and raced back to the Lars homestead which was destroyed and burning, Luke jumped out of the speeder and raced around the homestead.

"Uncle Owen! Aunt Beru!" he called out and then spotted their burning bodies and froze.

Anakin placed a hand on Luke's shoulder as he saw the burning bodies and turned him around away from it. He wrapped his arms around Luke and spoke in his ear, "Just let it go, there's nothing you can do now, just let it go."


	2. Catching a ride

When Anakin piloted the speeder with Luke next to him holding his head in his hands, Obi-Wan had already set up a fire and was burning the bodies of the Jawas. Obi-Wan walked over to them and read the look on Anakin's face as he got out of the speeder and met Obi-Wan halfway.

"I must tell him the truth," Anakin hurriedly whispered.

Obi-Wan shook his head, "No, it's too dangerous," he said firmly.

Anakin stood to his full hight and stared Obi-Wan down. "Look at him! He just saw Owen and Beru's burning bodies, his home is destroyed! He needs to know!" Anakin angrily whispered.

"You still need to release your anger and frustration into the force, Anakin! Be patient, Luke will figure things out in his own time. He's not stupid, you know. Don't forget about the fact that I've been watching over him for the past twenty years," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin looked back over to where Luke was. He watched as his son jumped out of the speeder and approached them determinedly. Only when Luke stood in front of them did he look up.

" I want to come with you to Alderaan. There's nothing here for me now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father," Luke said.

Obi-Wan nodded, "If that is what you feel is right, then I will help you," he said. He then went to task of finishing burning the bodies.

Anakin watched as Luke took one last look around. "What do you know about your father?" Anakin asked.

Luke turned to him startled. "Just what Ben told me. That he was a jedi and not a navigator on spice freighter as my uncle told me. Ben also told me that he was the best pilot in the galaxy and he was a good friend to him. That's about it really," Luke said.

How good are you at piloting?" Anakin asked.

Luke shrugged, "I'm still alive," he said, Anakin rolled his eyes and Luke continued, "You know Beggers canyon?" he asked.

"I'm familiar with it," Anakin said.

"Some friends and I used to shoot at womp rats there with this T-16 Skyhopper I had, that is until I burned it out pulling sharp maneuvers," Luke said and Anakin grinned.

"Got any mechanical skills?" Anakin asked.

"I grew up on a moisture farm where everything broke all the time, it was my job to fix everything," Luke shrugged briefly wondering what was with the questions.

"I built a protocol droid for my mother out of scrap when I was nine, I've always been good at that sort of thing, same as piloting, Often times I would almost give my mentor heart attacks when I was in the pilots seat. Speed is everything and fool hearty stunts are a way of life for me. Most people would crash if they did the kind of stunts I did," Anakin said.

"We should probably hurry up if we're going to get a transport to Alderaan, I think Mos Eisley would be suitable," Obi-Wan said going back to the speeder, "I think Luke should pilot, I'm too old for your stunts Anakin," he added settling in the passenger seat.

Anakin frowned and was about to tell Obi-Wan what he was _really_ too old for, but Luke just shrugged and jumped into the pilots seat. He didn't particularly like not being the pilot. He then mentally smacked himself. He defenantly shouldn't act like a child, especially in front of his future son.

It took them a few hours to reach Mos Eisley but when they did, Obi-Wan finally spoke up, "Mos Eisley Spaceport. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious," he said.

Luke nodded and Anakin placed a hand on his shoulder before whispering in his ear, "Just follow our lead, I have a feeling we're going undercover," and he grinned at Luke.

As they entered the streets they were stopped by storm troopers or as Anakin recognized, clones.

"How long have you had these droids?" the lead trooper asked Luke.

"Oh about three or four seasons," Luke lied.

"They're for sale if you want them," Anakin said before Obi-Wan could utter the words.

"Let me see your identification," The trooper ordered and Luke fumbled in search of his identification card.

"You don't need to see our identification," Anakin said waving his hand.

"We don't need to see their identification," the trooper said.

"We can go about our business, these are not the droids you are looking for," Obi-Wan said mimicking Anakin's hand movements.

"These aren't the droids we're looking for, they can go about their business," the trooper said waving them off.

Once they were out of ear shot Luke spoke up, "That was close," he said.

Anakin turned to Obi-Wan, "Have these clones always been that weak minded?" he asked dumbfounded.

"What do you expect from a clone?" Obi-Wan asked raising an eyebrow.

"No wonder the jedi are extinct, the Empire knew we could manipulate their precious clones to turn against them," Anakin said.

"It took a jedi to eliminate us," Obi-Wan said darkly.

"Seriously, Who is this Vader, surely he has a name from before he was a sith?" Anakin said getting frustrated with Obi-Wan's refusal to tell him the name of the man would kill him.

"The name is no longer important," Obi-Wan said as Luke parked the speeder near a run down cantina.

"I can't abide these Jawas. Disgusting creatures," Threepio said as a jawa came over inspecting the speeder.

Luke got out of the speeder and shooed the jawa away. "Go on, go on. I can't understand how we got by those troopers. I thought we were dead" he said as the jawa went away.

"The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded. You will find it a powerful ally," Obi-Wan said.

"Do you really think we're going to find a pilot here that'll take us to Alderaan?" Luke asked

"Well, most of the best freighter pilots can be found here. Only watch your step. This place can be a little rough," Obi-Wan said pulling his hood up.

"I'm ready for anything," Luke said.

Anakin pulled the hood of his black cloak up covering most of his face, "Are you sure about that?" he asked Luke.

Luke looked him in the eye, "Is there a reason why I shouldn't be?" he asked.

Anakin smiled and patted Luke's shoulder, "You just might make it, just remember to follow my lead," he said as they entered the cantina followed by Threepio and Artoo. Luke had to stop for a moment for his eyes to adjust to the change in lighting when the bartender spoke up.

"Hey, we don't serve your kind here," the bartender said and when Luke looked at him questionably he added, "Your droids we don't want there here, they'll have to sty outside.

Luke turned to Threepio and Artoo, "Listen, why don't you wait out by the speeder. We don't want any trouble," Luke said.

"I heartily agree with you sir," Threepio said and ushered Artoo to come with him to the speeder.

"Let's not stand here, we should get a drink while Obi-Wan scouts us a transport," Anakin said leading Luke over to the bar where he ordered them both a drink. Luke slumped against the bar as Anakin handed him a drink.

"Cheers," Anakin said and downed the drink in one shot. Luke only sipped his as he looked around the cantina. Anakin noticed Luke looking around like he was expecting trouble.

"You're just going to attract trouble if you keep looking around like you're doing," Anakin told him.

Luke ignored him and scanned the crowd for a sign of Obi-Wan. He looked away long enough to take a sip of his drink and true to Anakin's words A large, multiple-eyed Creature gave Luke a rough shove. And said something in a language that Luke didn't understand. Anakin watched the exchange from the corner of his eye and mentally smacked himself, the boy has a lot to learn in such a short span of time! The creature contnued to give Luke a rough shove, but Luke kept ignoring it until a human came up and tapped Luke on the shoulder.

"He doesn't like you," the human said.

"I'm sorry, " Luke replied and went back to his drink.

The human turned Luke around roughly, "I don't like you either. Don't insult us. You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence in twelve systems," he said.

"I'll be more careful," Luke replied turning back to his drink.

The human turned Luke around and shoved him against the bar, "You'll be dead!" it snarls.

Anakin ignited his lightsaber and held it against the so called wanted man's throat. "I'd watch my own back if I were you," Anakin growled. Standing his full hight, his black cloak hiding his appearance making him look more sinister.

The moments ago aggressive human threw his hands up in defeat, "I mean no harm," he said, the blade dangerously close to cutting his throat open.

"Next time you will know better than to pick a fight over trivial matters," Anakin told him deactivating his lightsaber. He then helped Luke up from where he had been pushed down during the scuffle. "Instead of ignoring my advise, you should be listening more closely," Anakin told him sternly.

Obi-Wan put and hand on each of their shoulders, "I may have found us a transport," he told them and steered both Skywalkers to a booth where a man and a wookiee who growled when he saw Anakin. Chewbacca. Anakin knew that this wookiee would recognize him due to his most recant mission to Kashyyyk with Obi-Wan to gain the aid of the wookiees during the clone wars. Anakin put a finger over his mouth telling Chewbacca to remain silent and then nodded to Luke. Chewbacca seemed to understand that gesture for now, but Anakin knew that he would have to give the wookiee some answers.

The man sat at the booth lazily with his feet propped up. But when Obi-Wan, Anakin and Luke sat down he leaned forward. " Han Solo. I'm captain of the Millennium Falcon. Chewie here tells me you're looking for passage to the Alderaan system," he said introducing himself.

"Yes, indeed. If it's a fast ship," Obi-Wan replied.

Han Solo looked offended, "Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?" he asked incredulously.

Anakin narrowed his eyes, "Should we have?" he asked.

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs! " Anakin shared a doubtful look with Obi-Wan before turning their attention to the Captain, Anakin wasn't impressed and neither was Obi-Wan. But Luke leaned forward and rested his chin on his fist listening carefully. Solo went on ignoring their reactions as he leaned back. "I've outrun Imperial starships, not the local bulk-cruisers, mind you. I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now. She's fast enough for you, old man. What's the cargo?"

"Just passengers, us three, two droids and no questions asked," Obi-Wan replied.

"What is it? Some sort of local trouble?" Solo asked.

Anakin leaned forward, "Lets just say that we want to avoid any Imperial entanglements," he said.

That got Solo's attention and he leaned forward and grinned. " Well, that's the trick, isn't it? And it's going to cost you something extra. Ten thousand in advance," he said.

Luke got upset at that. "Ten thousand? We could almost buy our own ship for that!" he said outraged.

Solo grinned "But who's going to fly it, kid! You?" he said cockily.

Luke stood up and leaned across the table, "You bet I could. I'm not such a bad pilot myself! We don't have to sit here and listen... " he said but both Obi-Wan and Anakin grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back down to his seat. Anakin whispered in his ear, "If you are serious about becoming a jedi, here's your first test. Feel outwards, let the force guide you... you see that we will be needing him, you could sense how important Solo will be in helping us, helping the princess."

Luke glanced at Anakin briefly and nodded making Anakin grin. "You're a natural, the force is strong with you as it is with all Skywalkers, it's in your bloodline," he whispered turning back to Solo. He could feel Luke's curious gaze on him, he could sense the questions forming in Luke's mind.

"We haven't that much with us. But we could pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan," Obi-Wan said.

That got Solo's interest, "Seventeen, huh!," he paused and grinned. "Okay. You guys got yourself a ship. We'll leave as soon as you're ready. Docking bay Ninety-four," he said.

Obi-Wan nodded, "Ninety-four," he repeated. "We'll meet you there shortly," he said and stood up motioning for the other two to follow him and they left the cantina. "You'll have to sell your speeder," he said to Luke as the met the droids at the speeder. 

"That's alright, I'm never coming back to this planet again," Luke agreed before sending Anakin another curious glance.


	3. The Millennium Falcon

After selling his speeder, Luke, Obi-Wan and Anakin entered the giant dirt pit that is Docking Bay 94. Resting in the middle of the huge hole is a large, round, beat-up, pieced-together hunk of junk that could only loosely be called a starship.

"What a piece of junk!" Luke called upon seeing the Millennium Falcon.

At Luke's loud exclamation The tall figure of Han Solo came down the boarding ramp and looked at Luke pointedly "She'll make point five beyond the speed of light. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've added some special modifications myself," he said proudly.

As the group approached the ship, Anakin spoke up, "She better. Everything rides on how fast we can get to Alderaan."

"We're a little rushed, so if you'll hurry aboard we'll get out of here," Han said ignoring Anakin's comment and gesturing for the group to enter the ship.

Luke hung back a little eying the ship. He was a little unsure about this. Anakin noticed this and turned back to Luke, "Luke! Are you coming or not?" Anakin said to him. Luke shook his head and followed Anakin inside.

Once inside Luke caught Anakin's arm and forced him to face him. "What was that back in the cantina?" he asked.

"Catching a ride," Anakin told him.

"That's not what I mean and you know it," Luke said.

Anakin grinned, "The force?" he said and turned back to follow Obi-Wan further into the ship but Luke stopped him again.

"What do you know about my family?" Luke demanded to know causing Anakin to turn to him.

"I know a lot more than you do. Frankly your father would be appalled at how little you know of your heritage," Anakin said and walked away but Luke followed him.

"What do you know about my father? You don't even know him!" Luke said sharply.

Anakin stopped but didn't turn to Luke. "Search your feelings, Luke, and you'll find your answers," he said and continued on.

In the cockpit Han frantically typed information into the ship's computer. Artoo appeared momentarily at the cockpit doorway, making a few beeping remarks, before scurrying away. Han noticed another ship following them as they leave the planet of Tatooine.

"It looks like an Imperial cruiser. Our passengers must be hotter than I thought. Try and hold them off. Angle the deflector shield while I make the calculations for the jump to light speed," Han said to Chewbacca who just roared in response before angling the deflector shield.

Obi-Wan and Anakin make their way into the cockpit followed by Luke. Han had continued making the calculations to Alderaan. "Stay sharp! There are two more coming in; they're going to try to cut us off," Han yelled.

"Why don't you outrun them? I thought you said this thing was fast," Luke said from behind Han.

Han turned around briefly, "Watch your mouth, kid, or you're going to find yourself floating home. We'll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace. Besides, I know a few maneuvers. We'll lose them!" he said and turned back around fiddling with the controls.

"Watch out for a blast coming from the ship to the left," Anakin said and not a second later the ship rocked as an explosion flashed outside the window.

"Here's where the fun begins!" Han said echoing Anakin's thoughts and Anakin grinned.

"They know we have the droids they're looking for," Anakin whispered to Obi-Wan who nodded.

"How long before you can make the jump to light speed?" Obi-Wan asked. 

"It'll take a few moments to get the coordinates from the navi-computer," Han replied. 

The ship began rocking violently as the star destroyers continued to fire at them.   
"Are you kidding? At the rate they're gaining..." Luke shouted but Han cut him off. 

"Traveling through hyperspace isn't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?" Han said. 

The ship continued to rock as laser fire continued to hit it. "What's that flashing?" Luke asked loudly pointing to a red light. 

"We're losing our deflector shield. Go strap yourself in, I'm going to make the jump to light speed," Han said hitting the controls. Instantly the galaxy brightened as the stars becames streaks when they jumped through hyperspace.

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Obi-Wan and Anakin watched as Luke practiced the lightsaber with a small "seeker" droid, a chrome baseball-like droid covered with antennae in the lounge area. Obi-Wan turned away and sat down while Anakin continued to lean against the wall with his arms crossed. Suddenly both Obi-Wan and Anakin took a deep breath as though in pain and looked at each other. Luke noticed this. 

"Are you all right? What's wrong?" Luke asked. 

"A disturbance in the force, pain, too much pain and terror," Anakin said looking at Obi-Wan. 

"And sudden silence," Obi-Wan finished. He rubbed his forehead for a moment and looked back to Luke, "You'd better get on with your exercises," he said to Luke. 

Luke once more go into position and ignited his lightsaber as the seeker droid acted up again sending a bolt in Luke's direction and Luke blocked it easily with his lightsaber. 

"Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him," Obi-Wan said. 

Luke stopped, "You mean it controls your actions?" he asked. 

"Partially. But it also obeys your commands," Obi-Wan said. 

Suspended at eye level, about ten feet in front of Luke, the "seeker" droid, hovers slowly in a wide arc. The droid floats to one side of Luke then the other. Suddenly it makes a lightning-swift lunge and stops within a few feet of Luke's face. Luke doesn't move and the droid backs off. It slowly moves behind the Luke, then makes another quick lunge, this time emitting a blood red laser beam as it attacks. It hits Luke in the leg causing him to tumble over. Luke recovered quickly as the "seeker" droid attacks again and this time he anticipates it and blocks the droids fire. 

Obi-Wan stood up and grabbed a helmet from the wall, "This time, let go your conscious self and act on instinct," he says as he places the helmet on Luke's head with the blast shield covering his eyes. 

Luke laughs, "With the blast shield down, I can't even see. How am I supposed to fight?" he said. 

"Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them," Anakin said. 

The droid shoots straight up in the air, then drops like a rock. Luke swings the lightsaber around blindly missing the seeker, which fires off a laserbolt which hits Luke square on the seat of the pants. He lets out a painful yell and attempts to hit the seeker droid. 

"Stretch out with your feelings," Obi-Wan said. 

Luke stands in one place, seemingly frozen. The seeker makes a dive at Luke and, incredibly, he managed to deflect the bolt. The droid ceases fire and moves back to its original position. 

Anakin smirks, "It seems as though he's a natural," he said leaning over to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan nodded as Luke continued to block the droids fire. 

That's when Han walked in and sit down. "Well, you can forget your troubles with those Imperial slugs. I told you I'd outrun 'em," Han said and looked around the lounge, "Don't everyone thank me at once," he said. 

Threepio watches Chewbacca and Artoo who are engrossed in a game in which three-dimensional holographic figures move along a chess-type board. 

"Anyway, we should be at Alderaan about oh-two-hundred hours," Han said eyeing everyone in the lounge. 

Chewbacca and the two droids sit around the lighted table covered with small holographic monsters. Each side of the table has a small computer monitor embedded in it. Chewbacca seems very pleased with himself as he rests his lanky fur- covered arms over his head. 

"Now be careful, Artoo," Threepio said. 

Artoo immediately reaches up and taps the computer with his stubby claw hand, causing one of the holographic creatures to walk to the new square. A sudden frown crosses Chewbacca's face and he begins yelling gibberish at the tiny droid. Threepio intercedes on behalf of his small companion and begins to argue with the huge Wookiee. 

"He made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help you," Threepio said defending his companion. 

Han leaned over to them. "Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee," he said. 

"But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid," Threepio said. 

"That's 'cause droids don't pull people's arms out of their socket when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that," Han said. 

"I see your point, sir. I suggest a new strategy, Artoo. Let the Wookiee win," Threepio said. 

Han watched Luke miss another shot from the "seeker" droid and gets hit in the arm this time. 

"You're not trusting in the force if that little droid can get you," Anakin said. 

Han laughed. "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid," he said. 

Luke took off the helmet and looked at Han, "You don't believe in the Force, do you?" he asked. 

Han leans back in his seat, "Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny," he said. 

Obi-Wan smiles quietly to himself as Anakin looked at Han with displeasure, "That's where you're wrong, if you've only had seen the galaxy where the jedi flourished, you'd believe," he said haughtily. 

Luke looked at him questionably, "How would you have seen the jedi, you're barely any older than I am?" he asked. 

Anakin realizing his mistake quickly covered it up, "I mean to say it not literally, I mean, how would I know," he said. 

Han shook his head and turned back to the previous subject. "It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense, " he said. 

"I suggest you try it again, Luke," Obi-Wan said standing up to activate the "seeker" droid but Anakin stopped him. 

"We've seen that you're good with a droid opponent, but lets see how good you are with a real opponent," Anakin said taking out his lightsaber. 

Obi-Wan stood back, "Anakin, are you sure about this, Luke's only a beginner," he said into Anakin's ear. 

"But, he's also a Skywalker," Anakin whispered back grinning. He turned to Luke as Obi-Wan sat down again and watched with interest. "Ready?" Anakin asked igniting his lightsaber. 

"As ready as I'll ever be," Luke replied getting into position. 

Anakin grinned and lunged at Luke who in turn blocked his attack with ease before attacking Anakin. They each moved in and blocked each others blades as they circled each other. Obi-Wan and Han watched the duel with interest. 

"You're holding back," Luke observed. 

"I don't want to hurt you," Anakin said, "I've been known to do that," he then lunged his blade aiming to disarm Luke, but Luke quickly blocked it and pulled the same move against Anakin who blocked it too. 

Anakin turned around and lunged forward to disarm Luke again, but Luke ducked, bent down and stuck out his foot knocking Anakin down on his back. Luke used the force to call Anakin's lightsaber into his hands. 

Anakin lay on his back staring up at Luke with a look of utter shock on his face. "I...I didn't see that coming...no one bests me," he stammered. 

Luke deactivated both lightsabers and looked at the two to find them exactly identical. He looked up at Obi-Wan who's eyes were glued to him as though expecting Luke to figure something out. Earlier Obi-Wan had lectured him about lightsabers and how in the jedi order a jedi made his own lightsaber and each lightsaber is unique, reflecting it's creator. But the two lightsabers in his hands were completely identical, down to the color of the blade and the metal used to make it. He looked from each lightsaber to where Anakin was still on the floor looking at him wide eyed. He knew about his family. There was a slight resemblance. Where did he come from? Suddenly the lightsaber in Luke's left had flew back to it owner as Anakin stood up not meeting Luke's eyes. Luke looked over to Obi-Wan who nodded to him. There was defenantly more the this Anakin than met the eye and Luke was determined to find out his secret and what he knew. 

"Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan," Han said breaking the silence that filled the lounge as a light flashed on the far side of the control panel. 


	4. The death star

"_Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan," Han said breaking the silence that filled the lounge as a light flashed on the far side of the control panel._

Han and Chewbacca head back to the cockpit followed by Obi-Wan. Before Anakin could head back to the cockpit Luke stopped him.

"Where did you say you were from again?" Luke asked hoping to catch Anakin off guard.

"Coruscant," Anakin replied.

"Imperial City?" Luke said and Anakin shrugged. "How'd you end up on Tatooine and how do you know old Ben?"

"I don't know how I ended up on Tatooine, my ship blew up, this world is so different than what I know," Anakin said.

"What's your last name?" Luke asked hoping that maybe he could get this mysterious person to open up for reasons unknown to him.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at him. "What's with all the questions?" he asked.

Luke shrugged, "Just trying to get to know who I'm traveling with, that's all," he said and headed to the cockpit.

Anakin watched Luke leave and heaved a heavy sigh, he had to tell him the truth, no matter what Obi-wan said. Coming to his new resolution he followed Luke into the cockpit.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Stand by, Chewie, here we go. Cut in the sublight engines," Han said pulling back on a lever.

Outside the cockpit window stars began streaking past, seeming to decrease in speed, then stopped. Suddenly the starship began shuddering and violently shaking about. Asteroids began racing toward them, battering the sides of the ship.

"What the...? Aw, we've come out of hyperspace into a meteor shower. Some kind of asteroid collision. It's not on any of the charts," Han said

Chewbacca flipped off several controls as Luke and Anakin enters the cockpit.

"Are you sure we're in the right spot?" Obi-Wan asked.

"What's going on?" Luke asked seeing the asteroids racing towards them.

"Our position is correct, except...no, Alderaan!" Han said trying not to sound alarmed.

"What do you mean? Where is it?" Luke asked alarmed.

"Thats what I'm trying to tell you, kid. It ain't there. It's been totally blown away," Han said.

"What? How?" Anakin asked both outraged and shocked. What could destroy a planet?!

"Destroyed...by the Empire!" Obi-Wan said and turned to Anakin, "That was the disturbance in the force that we felt," he said gravely.

"The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet. It'd take a thousand ships with more fire power than I've..." Han was saying, he did want to believe that the Empire could destroy a planet.

A signal started flashing on the control panel and a muffled alarm started humming.

" There's another ship coming in," Han said getting ready to fight.

"Maybe they know what happened," Luke suggested.

"It's an Imperial fighter," Obi-Wan said.

Chewbacca roared his concern. A huge explosion bursts outside the cockpit window, shaking the ship violently. A tiny, finned Imperial TIE fighter races past the cockpit window.

"It followed us!" Luke shouted.

"No. It's a short range fighter, I can sense it," Anakin said closing his eyes.

"There aren't any bases around here. Where did it come from?" Han asked nervously.

The fighter raced past the Millennium Falcon.

"It sure is leaving in a big hurry. If they identify us, we're in big trouble," Luke said.

"Not if I can help it. Chewie...jam it's transmissions," Han said.

"It'd be as well to let it go. It's too far out of range," Obi-Wan told him.

"Not for long," Han said as he raced the ship after the TIE fighter until they noticed one of the stars growing brighter. It seems as though the TIE fighter was heading straight for the star as the Falcon continued to gain on it.

"A fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own," Anakin told them.

"It must have gotten lost, been part of a convoy or something," Luke suggested.

"Well, he ain't going to be around long enough to tell anyone about us," Han told them. "I think I can get him before he gets there...he's almost in range,"

In the distance the star started to resemble a small moon and as they got closer it began to resemble not a small moon or a star but a monstrous spherical battle station!

"That's no moon! It's a space station," Obi-Wan told them with wide eyes.

"It's too big to be a space station," Anakin protested.

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Luke said.

"Yeah, I think your right. Full reverse! Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power," Obi-Wan said in a commanding voice.

The ship shuddered and the TIE fighter accelerated away toward the gargantuan battle station. Han tries to pull the ship in reverse but they continued to move towards it.

"Why are we still moving towards it?" Luke asked alarmed.

"We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!" Anakin said.

"But there's gotta be something you can do!" Luke said looking at Han sounding desperate.

"There's nothin' I can do about it, kid. I'm in full power. I'm going to have to shut down. But they're not going to get me without a fight!" Han said but Obi-Wan put a hand on his shoulder.

"You can't win. But there are alternatives to fighting," Obi-Wan told him.

Han looked at the old jedi skeptically, "Oh yeah? What?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Quickly, get in here," Han said lifting up four floor panels in the hall.

Luke and Anakin quickly put the two droids in the middle one, "Now be quiet, we don't want to be detected," Luke told them.

"Yes, Master Luke," Threepio said and Artoo made a few beeping sounds.

Han and Obi-Wan climbed into the panel to the left and Chewbacca gets inside the one to the left of that one leaving the right one for Luke and Anakin. Once they were safely inside the panel, Anakin spoke up.

"I know you have your suspicions of me, Luke, and with just cause," Anakin said in a hushed voice.

"You're going to tell me now when we're supposed to be quiet," Luke said raising an eyebrow.

"There might not be another chance," Anakin hurriedly whispered. "My name is Anakin Skywalker and I'm not from this time. I'm a jedi from the Galactic Republic, before this dreaded Empire,"

Luke's eyes widened and he shook his head, "You're crazy," Luke told him.

"Search your feelings, Luke. You know I'm telling you the truth. Now we need to be quiet, we're entering the space station," Anakin hurriedly whispered.

Not long afterward they heard footsteps above them. The Imperials were searching the ship. They could hear an officer giving orders When the footsteps stopped and the voice of the officer faded, Did Obi-Wan and Anakin give the okay to lift themselves out of the compartments.

"Boy, it's lucky you had these compartments," Luke said to Han not looking at Anakin.

"I use them for smuggling. I never thought I'd be smuggling myself in them. This is ridiculous. Even if I could take off, I'd never get past the tractor beam," Han said.

"Leave that to me!" Obi-Wan said.

"Damn fool. I knew that you were going to say that!" Han said.

"Who's the more foolish...the fool or the fool who follows him?" Anakin said echoing Obi-Wans famous words from years back and grinned at Obi-Wan and only smiled.

Han shook his head and muttered to himself, Chewbacca agreed with him.

Not long after a few storm troopers entered the ship carrying a create. Anakin, Han and Chewbacca knocked them out while Obi-Wan and Luke tied them up. Han shouted out to the other two storm troopers on the ground below.

"Hey down there, could you give us a hand with this?" Han shouted down.

The two remaining storm troopers come up and Han and Anakin fired at them.

"Quickly put their armer on," Obi-Wan ordered Anakin, Luke and Han, "We're going to need a distraction." after protesting, Anakin quickly put the storm trooper on himself, Luke and Han followed suit.

They quickly made their way out of the ship and further into the space station. The group headed up to the command post. When they got to the door an officer was leaving. The officer backs up in a state of shock at seeing the wookiee and Chewbacca quickly flattens him, the other officer in the command post pulls out a blaster but Han blasts him first. The group enters the command post and shuts the door behind them.

Luke quickly removes his helmet. "You know, between his howling and your blasting everything in sight, it's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here," he said.

Han and Anakin both pulled off their helmets, "Bring them on! I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around," Han said defiantly.

"I agree, I say we take them out just as we did with the droid army!" Anakin said pointedly to Obi-Wan.

"You still need to learn patience, Anakin. If you cause attention to yourself, you'll be killed quickly," Obi-Wan said placing a hand on Anakin's shoulder.

"Sorry master, You know I never liked waiting around like this," Anakin replied.

Obi-Wan smiled and turned to the computer outlet that Threepio pointed out. He fed some information into it and a map of the city appeared on the monitor. He began to inspect it carefully. Threepio and Artoo look over the control panel. Artoo finds something that makes him whistle wildly.

"Plug in Artoo. We should be able to interpret the entire Imperial computer network," Anakin ordered the little droid.

Artoo punches his arm into the computer socket and the vast Imperial brain network comes to life, feeding information to the little droid. After a few moments, he beeps something.

"He says he's found the main computer to power the tractor beam that's holding the ship here. He'll try to make the precise location appear on the monitor," Threepio said. The computer monitor flashes readouts. "The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave," he finished.

Obi-Wan studied the readout, "I don't think you boys can help. I must go alone," he said.

"Whatever you say. I've done more that I bargained for on this trip already," Han said crossing his arms.

Luke walks up to Obi-Wan, "I want to go with you," he said.

Obi-Wan placed a hand on his shoulder. "Be patient, Luke. Stay and watch over the droids," he instructed.

"But he can..." Luke protested.

"They must be delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan. Your destiny lies along a different path than mine. The Force will be with you...always!" Obi-Wan told him and nodded at Anakin who stood up straighter.

"My the force be with you, old friend," Anakin said encouragingly nodding his understanding.

Obi-Wan adjusts the lightsaber on his belt and silently steps out of the command office, then disappears down a long gray hallway. Anakin placed a hand on Luke's shoulder but Luke shrugged it off.

Chewbacca barks a comment and Han shakes his head in agreement. "Boy you said it, Chewie," he then looked Luke and Anakin, "Where did you dig up that old fossil?" he asked.

"Ben is a great man," Luke said and Anakin smiled to himself.

"Yeah, great at getting us into trouble," Han told them.

"I didn't hear you give any ideas... " Luke told him.

"Well, anything would be better than just hanging around waiting for him to pick us up... " Han interjected.

"Who do you think..." Anakin began pointing his finger at Han.

Suddenly Artoo began to whistle and beep a blue streak. Luke went over to him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir. He says 'I found her', and keeps repeating, 'She's here.'" Threepio said interpreting Artoo's beeps and whistles.

"Well, who...who has he found?" Anakin asked at Luke's side.

Artoo whistles a frantic reply. "Princess Leia," Threepio said.

"The princess? She's here?" Luke said sounding excited.

"Princess? What's going on?" Han demanded to know.

"Level five. Detention block A A-twenty-three. I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated," Threepio told them.

"That's an outrage! They can't kill her!" Anakin said outraged.

"We've got to do something!" Luke said.

"We can't just walk into the detention block and take her out, we need a plan," Anakin told him.

"What are you talking about?" Han asked.

"The droid belongs to her. She's the one in the message.. We've got to help her," Luke told him.

"Now, look, don't get any funny ideas. The old man wants us to wait right here," Han said being defiant.

"He didn't know she was here. Look, we'll just find a way back into the detention block and get her, we just need a plan," Anakin said thinking.

"I'm not going anywhere," Han told them.

"They're going to execute her. Look, a few minutes ago you said you didn't want to just wait here to be captured. Now all you want to do is stay," Luke argued with him.

"Marching into the detention area is not what I had in mind," Han told him.

"But they're going to kill her!" Luke told him desperately.

"Better her than me," Han said.

Luke got an idea. "She's rich," he said catching Han's attention. Anakin raised an eyebrow at Luke listening in. Luke really wanted Han to join them and Anakin agreed, three would be better than two.

"Rich?" Han said raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Rich, powerful! Listen, if you were to rescue her, the reward would be..." Anakin said walking over to Han and Luke.

"What?" Han said getting interested.

"Well more wealth that you can imagine," Luke said.

"I don't know, I can imagine quite a bit," Han said thoughtfully.

"You'll get it," Luke said.

"I better," Han told them.

"You will," Anakin told him.

"All right, kid. But you'd better be right about this," Han said agreeing and looks at Chewie who growls a reply, "what's your plan?" he asked.

Anakin spots a pair of binders and hands them to Luke. "Put these on Chewbacca, we're bringing a prisoner into the detention block," he said.

Luke attempts to put the binders on Chewbacca who growls in protests. Luke backs away and hands the binders to Han.

"Don't worry, Chewie, you wont be harmed," Han said putting the binders on Chewbacca.

"Master Luke, sir! Pardon me for asking...but, ah...what should Artoo and I do if we're discovered here?" Threepio asked.

"Lock the door," Luke said simply,

"And hope they don't have blasters," Han told them.

"That isn't very reassuring," Threepio said.

"Ready?" Anakin said putting on his helmet followed by Luke and Han.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The group travels through the space station without being stopped until they reached the detention block. When they enter the detention block A tall, grim looking Officer approaches them.

"Where are you taking this...thing?" the officer said.

Chewie growls a bit at the remark but Han nudges him to shut up.

"Prisoner transfer from Block one-one-three-eight," Anakin said.

"I wasn't notified. I'll have to clear it," The officer said going back to his console and begins to punch in the information.

There are only three other troopers in the area. Luke and Han survey the situation, checking all of the alarms, laser gates, and camera eyes. Han unfastens one of Chewbacca's electronic cuffs and shrugs to Luke. Suddenly Chewbacca throws up his hands and lets out with one of his ear-piercing howls. He grabs Han's laser rifle.

"Look out! He's loose!" Han shouted

"He's going to pull us all apart!" Luke shouted.

"Go get him!" Anakin shouted, under his helmet he was grinning, this was getting fun.

The startled guards are momentarily dumbfounded. Anakin, Luke and Han have already pulled out their laser pistols and are blasting away at the terrifying Wookiee. Their barrage of laserfire misses Chewbacca, but hits the camera eyes, laser gate controls, and the Imperial guards. The officer is the last of the guards to fall under the laserfire just as he is about to push the alarm system.

Han rushes to the comlink system, which is screeching questions about what is going on. He quickly checks the computer readout.

"We've got to find out which cell this princess of yours is in. Here it is...cell twenty-one-eight-seven. You go get her. I'll hold them here," Han said.

Anakin stands guard at the door, blaster ready while Luke rushed down one of the cell corridors.

"Everything is under control. Situation normal," Han said into the buzzing comlink.

"What happened?" a voice in the comlink asked.

"Uh...had a slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here, now, thank you. How are you?" Han said nervously.

"We're sending a squad up," the voice said.

"Uh, uh, negative. We had a reactor leak here now. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak...very dangerous," Han told them frantically.

"Who is this? What's your operating number?" the voice demanded.

Han blasted the comlink and it explodes. "Boring conversation anyway," Han muttered.

"Luke! We're going to have company!" Anakin shouted down the hall.

Luke stops in front of one of the cells and blasts the door away with a laser pistol. When the smoke clears, Luke sees the dazzling young princess-senator. She had been sleeping and is now looking at him with an uncomprehending look on her face. Luke is stunned by her incredible beauty and stands staring at her with his mouth hanging open.

"Aren't you a little short to be a storm trooper?" Leia said.

"What? Oh...the uniform. I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you," Luke said taking off his helmet.

"What? You're who?" Leia asked.

"I'm here to rescue you. I've got your R2 unit. I'm here with Ben Kenobi," Luke told her.

Leia jumped up. "Ben Kenobi is here! Where is he?" she asked.

Luke grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the cell. "Come on," he said.

The group gets out into the hall and heads to the elevator only to have several stormtroopers come through. Anakin, Luke and Han try to blast them but they kept coming. They went back into the cell block with no where to go.

"We can't go out that way," Han said.

Luke takes a small comlink transmitter from his belt as they continue to exchange fire with stormtroopers making their way down the corridor.

"Threepio, Threepio!" Luke called into the comlink.

"Yes sir?" came Threepio's reply.

"We've been cut off! Are there any other ways out of the cell bay?...What was that? I didn't copy!" Luke called.

"I said, all systems have been alerted to your presence, sir. The main entrance seems to be the only way in or out; all other information on your level is restricted," Threepio said.

Luke and Leia crouch together in an alcove for protection as they continue to exchange fire with troops. Han, Anakin and Chewbacca are barely able to keep the stormtroopers at bay at the far and of the hallway. The laserfire is very intense, and smoke fills the narrow cell corridor.

"There isn't any other way out," Luke told them.

"We can't hold them off any longer!" Anakin and Han shouted.

"This is some rescue. When you came in here, didn't you have a plan for getting out?" Leia shouted.

"We didn't think that far!" Anakin shouted.

Leia grabs Luke's gun and fires at a small grate in the wall next to Han, almost frying him.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Han shouted.

"Somebody has to save our skins. Into the garbage chute, wise guy," Leia shouts.

She jumps through the narrow opening as Han, Anakin, Luke and Chewbacca look on in amazement. Anakin is suddenly reminded of Padme as he pulls Luke along and shoves him down the garbage shoot

"Wonderful girl! Either I'm going to kill her or I'm beginning to like her. Get in there!" Han shouts before Anakin follows his son.

Chewbacca sniffs the garbage chute and says something.

"Get in there you big furry oaf! I don't care what you smell! Get in there and don't worry about it!" Han shouts kicking the wookiee down the garbage shoot before he too jumps down.

Han tumbles into the large room filled with garbage and muck. Luke is already stumbling around looking for an exit. He finds a small hatchway and struggles to get it open. It won't budge.

"Oh! The garbage chute was a really wonderful idea. What an incredible smell you've discovered!" Han said sarcastically "Let's get out of here! Get away from there..." he said moving to the hatchway and pulled out his blaster. Everyone yells at him to stop but he uses it anyways.

The laserbolt ricochets wildly around the small metal room. Everyone dives for cover in the garbage as the bolt explodes almost on top of them. Leia climbs out of the garbage with a rather grim look on her face.

"Will you forget it? I already tried it. It's magnetically sealed!" Luke yelled.

"Put that thing away! You're going to get us all killed," Leia shouted at Han.

"Absolutely, Your Worship. Look, I had everything under control until you led us down here. You know, it's not going to take them long to figure out what happened to us," Han told her.

"It could be worst... " Anakin told them and grimaced as a loud, horrible, inhuman moan works its way up from the murky depths.

Chewbacca lets out a terrified howl and begins to back away. Han and Luke stand fast with their laser pistols drawn. Anakin's lightsaber is gripped tightly in his hand and ignited. Chewbacca is cowering near one of the wall.

"It's worst," Han said.

"There's something alive in here!" Luke said.

"That's your imagination," Han dismissed.

"Something just moves past my leg! Look! Did you see that?" Luke said pointing down.

"What?" Han and Anakin asked.

Suddenly Luke is yanked under the garbage.

"Luke! Luke! Luke!"Anakin shouted rushing over to where his son was moments before and brushing the garbage aside frantically.

Luke surfaces with a gasp of air and thrashing of limbs. A membrane tentacle is wrapped around his throat.

"Luke!" Leia extends a pipe to him. "Grab a hold of this!"

"Blast it, will you! My gun's jammed," Luke said struggling with whatever was trying to hold him down.

"Where!" Han asked.

"Anywhere!" Luke said and was pulled under again.

Anakin doved under water with his lightsaber and suddenly the walls of the garbage receptacle shudder and move in a couple of inches. Then everything is deathly quiet. Han and Leia give each other a worried look as Chewbacca howls in the corner. With a rush of bubbles and muck Luke and Anakin suddenly bobed to the surface.

"What happened?" Leia asked.

"I don't know, it just let go of me and disappeared" Luke said.

"I've got a very bad feeling about this," Han said.

Before anyone can say anything the walls begin to rumble and edge toward the Rebels.

"The walls are moving!" Luke shouted.

"Don't just stand there. Try to brace it with something!" Leia shouted as she, Han and Chewie tried to brace the walls.

Anakin grabbed Luke's shoulder, "Still got your lightsaber?" he asked. Luke nodded. "Come on, I know what to do," he said drawing his lightsaber and moving to the hatch. Luke followed suit.

"Now just do what I do, it'll take the two of us," Anakin said as Luke took out his lightsaber. Anakin jammed his blade along the door of the hatchway.

Luke did the same finding it rather difficult to glide the blade along the door. He looked over to Anakin to find that he was having the same difficulty.

"Is this supposed to work?" Luke asked.

"Almost there," Anakin said as they got to the bottom of the hatch. He then turned off his lightsaber and Luke followed suit. Anakin kicked at the door and it fell outwards.

"Alright, anybody who doesn't want to get squished, follow us!" Anakin shouted shoving Luke out the door.

Chewbacca was the first one out after Luke followed by Leia and Han last. They were now in a dusty hallway clearly not used much. Anakin, Luke and Han strip themselves from the storm trooper armer. Luke and Han strapped on the blaster belts. Anakin handed Leia his blaster, preferring his lightsaber.

"If we can just avoid any more female advice, we ought to be able to get out of here," Han said pointedly.

"Easy there, Solo, you're underestimating women They're a lot more useful in war than you think," Anakin said not noticing Leia giving him an appreciative look.

"Well, let's get moving!" Luke said.

Chewie begins growling and points to the hatch to the garbage room, as he runs away and then stops howling.

"Where are you going?" Han calls after him.

The Dianogu bangs against the hatch and a long, slimy tentacle works its way out of the doorway searching for a victim. Luke quickly gets out it's reach not wanting to become it's victim again. Anakin swiftly cuts off the tentacle with his lightsaber. The dianogu howls and disappears. The Dianogu's howl echoes relentlessly throughout the empty passageway.

"Filthy disgusting creatures, " Anakin mutters bitterly.

"Come here, you big coward!" Han yells to Chewie. Chewbacca shakes his head no. "Chewie! Come here!"

"Listen. I don't know who you are, or where you came from, but from now on, you do as I tell you. Okay?" Leia said dangerously in a commanding voice.

Han is momentarily stunned at the command of the petite young girl. He recovers quickly, "Look, Your Worshipfulness, let's get one thing straight! I take orders from one person! Me!" he said.

Leia regards him momentarily, "It's a wonder you're still alive," she said and turned to Chewie who is infront of her. "Will somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way," she said and took the lead out of the corridor.

Han looks at both Skywalkers. "No reward is worth this!" he shouts. Anakin grinned while Luke shrugged. All three men plus wookiee follow the princess.

Luke, Han, Chewbacca, and Leia run down an empty hallway and stop before a bay window overlooking the Falcon. Troopers are milling about the ship. Luke takes out his pocket comlink.

"There she is," Han said pointing to his ship.

"Threepio, do you copy?" Luke said into his comlink.

"For the moment. Uh, we're in the main hangar across from the ship," came Threepio's voice.

"We're right above you. Stand by," Luke ordered.

Anakin and Han are watching the dozen or so troops moving in and out of the Falcon. Leia moves towards Han, touches his arm and points out the window to the ship.

"You came in that thing? You're braver that I thought," Leia said and Anakin grinned.

"Nice! Come on!" Han said giving Leia a dirty look.

They start off down the hallway. They round a corner and run right into twenty Imperial stormtroopers heading toward them. Both groups are taken by surprise and stop in their tracks.

"It's them! Blast them!" the first storm trooper said.

Before even thinking, Han draws his laser pistol and charges the troops, firing. Anakin ignited his lightsaber and charged at the storm troopers cutting off their arms along the way, his blade becoming nothing but a blur in the attack. Han's blaster knocks one of the stormtroopers into the air. Chewie follows Anakin and Han down the corridor, stepping over the fallen trooper on the floor as more storm troopers came after them. Anakin shouts back to Luke and Leia to get to the ship.

"Where are you going? Come back!" Luke shouts.

"They certainly have courage," Leia commented.

"What good will it do us if they gets themselves killed? Come on!" Luke said grabbing her hand as they flew down to the hanger.

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Han, Anakin and Chewbacca, their weapons in hand, lean back against the wall surveying the forward bay, watching the Imperial stormtroopers make their rounds of the hangar.

"Didn't we just leave this party?" Han said.

"We can take them," Anakin said arrogantly getting ready to charge at the storm troopers with his lightsaber as Luke and the princess join them.

"What took you?" Han demanded.

"We ran into some old friends," Leia said.

"Is the ship all right?" Luke asked.

"Seems okay, if we can get to it. Just hope the old man got the tractor beam out of commission," Han said.

Anakin caught Obi-Wan dueling a sith lord in all black. This must be Darth Vader. Anakin was about to charge at them with his lightsaber when he heard Obi-Wan's voice in his head. _Anakin, get Luke and the others out of here! You can't let Vader get Luke, he's the only one who can stop him and he's not ready yet! Don't worry about me I have the force on my side._

Anakin turned back to the group. "Get to the ship now!" he ordered as the two droids hurried forward.

"But what about Ben?" Luke asked as Han, Leia and Chewbacca ran to the ship followed by the droids.

"Don't worry about him, now lets go!" Anakin said as he shoved Luke towards the ship. Suddenly Obi-Wan stopped dueling Vader and Vader killed him.

Luke saw this and screamed, "No!" and he starts firring his blaster at the sith lord who saw them and starts forward. Luke is frozen in his spot firing his blaster and missing as the sith lord came forward. Anakin took the blaster from Luke's hands and fired a shot at the sith lord and hitting him. The sith lord stops and takes a hard look at the two Skywalkers. Anakin grins and gives the sith lord a mocking salute before pulling Luke aboard the ship.

Once inside the Falcon Han pulls back on the controls and the ship begins to move. The dull thud of laser bolts bouncing off the outside of the ship as Chewie adjusts his controls.

"I hope the old man got that tractor beam out if commission, or this is going to be a real short trip. Okay, hit it!" Han shouted. Chewbacca growls in agreement. The ship manages to get out of the dreaded space station and head for space.

In the lounge area, Luke, saddened by the loss of Obi-Wan Kenobi, stares off blankly as the droids look on. Leia puts a blanket around him protectively, and Luke turns and looks up at her. She sits down beside him. Anakin leans against the wall with his hand covering his eyes.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Leia told them.

"Obi-Wan was a great jedi, his death will not be in vain. Luke and I will pledge ourselves to your rebellion under one condition," Anakin said.

Leia looks up at him. "What would that be?" she asked.

Anakin turned to her, "Luke and I get the pleasure of destroying Vader," he said.

Leia looked at them skeptically, "That'll be a very touch job, Vader is pretty much indestructible," she said.

"Sith lords are a jedi's specialty," Anakin said sternly.

Leia nodded, "I'll leave you two to yourselves then," she said and kissed Luke's cheek.

Once she was gone Luke turned to Anakin. "Say I believe you and you are my father from the past, How and why did you come here now?" he asked.

Anakin raked a hand through what hair he had due to his padawan cut. "I have no clue," he said and sighed. "One moment I was in battle with Obi-Wan and the next I'm on Tatooine in the future where I have a son, my wife was murdered and my best friend, brother and mentor is an old suspicious man attacking me on sight!"

"Ben attacked you?" Luke asked raising an eyebrow smirking.

Anakin waved a hand dismissively, "It's not important," he said and began pacing. "What is important is how we're going to restore the Republic, Kill _Vader_ and maybe this Emperor," he said 'Vader' with vehemence and continued on. "For now we'll say that we're brothers, can't have people knowing I'm from the past since I'm supposed to be _dead, _they'll think we're crazy."

"I know what I have to gain in getting rid of Vader, but what about you? Besides the killing you part," Luke said sounding less enthusiastic about having to kill someone.

Anakin stopped pacing. "Vader killed Padme, Obi-Wan told me," he said.

"Who's Padme?" Luke asked.

Anakin turned to Luke astonished, "You don't know anything about your family do you?!" he said outraged. Luke shook his head and Anakin gritted his teeth.

Suddenly Han runs into the lounge, "Fire up the main guns, we've got company!" he shouted pointing to the cannons.

Anakin and Luke rushed over to the cannons, Anakin taking the top and Luke at the bottom. Both got into position and began blasting TIE fighters as the ship rocked from laserfire.

"Okay, stay sharp! This where the fun begins!" Anakin said into his head piece.

A TIE fighter maneuvers in front of Anakin, who follows it and fires at it with the laser cannon. Luke does likewise, as the fighter streaks into view. The ship has suffered a minor hit, and bounces slightly.

"They're coming in too fast!" Luke shouts as he fires at an unseen fighter.

Luke swivels in his gun mount, following the TIE fighter with his laser cannon. Anakin aims his laser cannon at the enemy fighter. TIE fighters keep coming at them, their fire making the ship rock. Luke fires at a TIE fighter. At his port, Anakin follows a fighter in his sights, releasing a blast of laserfire. He connects, and the fighter explodes into fiery dust. He laughs victoriously. Two TIE fighters move toward and over the Millennium Falcon, unleashing a barrage of laserbolts at the ship. Another TIE fighter moves in on the ship and Luke, smiling, fires the laser cannon at it, scoring a spectacular direct hit.

"Got him! I got him!" Luke shouted.

Anakin grinned, "Don't let your victory cloud you, Luke, there's two more moving towards you," he said.

Two more TIE fighters cross in front of the Falcon and Luke gets them easily.

In the cockpit Han attempts to fire up the hyperdrive, but it fails. "Great! They disabled the hyperdrive!" he shouted.

Artoo beeps and moved over to the control panel. He sticks out his arm and makes a few switches. Instantly the hyperdrive acts up and they make it out of there.

"Whadda you know, that little droid did it!" Han shouted.

Luke and Anakin tore off their head pieces and ran out from the spots and into the main lounge meeting everyone else, Han and Luke shouting in victory.

"Live in that small victory, because they let us go," Leia told them.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were tracking us," Anakin said.

Luke stopped where he was as the weight of his fathers words sunk in and Han looked at him incredulously.

"If they were tracking us, I'd know," Han said. And turned to Leia, "Where to Princess?" he asked.


	5. Death of the Death Star

Han finished keying in the coordinates that the princess gave him into the computer, they should arrive at Yavin four momentarily. He got up and met everyone else back into the lounge. Luke and Leia were sitting down, Anakin was leaning up against the wall with his eyes closed. The two droids were off in one corner.

"At least the information in Artoo is still intact," Leia said.

"What's so important? What's he carrying?" Han wanted to know.

"The technical readouts of that battle station. I only hope that when the data is analyzed, a weakness can be found. It's not over yet!" Leia answered him. Anakin opened his eyes and stared at Artoo. Luke looked around at everyone in the room.

"It is for me, sister! Look, I ain't in this for your revolution, and I'm not in it for you, Princess. I expect to be well paid. I'm in it for the money!" Han said.

"You needn't worry about your reward. If money is all that you love, then that's what you'll receive!" Leia said angrily. She then turned to Luke, "Your friend is quite a mercenary. I wonder if he really cares about anything...or anyone." she said leaving the lounge.

"I care!" Luke called after her. He turned to Anakin to see that his eyes were closed again. He looked from Anakin to Han. "So...what do you think of her, Han?" he asked.

"I'm trying not to, kid!" Han said and heard Luke mutter under his breath 'good', "Still, she's got a lot of spirit. I don't know, what do you think? Do you think a princess and a guy like me..."

before he could finish Luke said "No!" firmly.

Han looked over at Anakin and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't look at me, Solo, I have nothing for the princess, I'm married," Anakin said firmly not opening his eyes.

Han shakes his head at the young jedi and turns away going back to the cockpit leaving Anakin and Luke alone.

Luke looked over at Anakin, "Tell me about my mother," he urged.

Anakin smiled fondly at the thought of Padme. "She's beautiful, the most beautiful woman I have ever set my eyes on. I was nine when I first met her, she was fourteen and the Queen of Naboo. I knew then that I would marry her one day. We married ten years later. She's now the senator for Naboo. In a lot of ways Leia reminds me of her," he then opened his eyes and looked at Luke. "Her name is Padme Amidala, well formally. But personally she's just Padme Naberrie Skywalker. She has curly chocolate hair and chocolate brown eyes. She feels very passionately for democracy and will fight for it with her dying breath. She also excels in combat, you never can underestimate her," he then looked away sadly, "I suppose her passion for democracy and her connection to me is why Vader killed her. She was very influential. If she knew how the galaxy fell into the state it's in now, it would kill her."

Luke half smiled. "She sounds wonderful, I wish I could have known her," he said.

Anakin smiled, "She would be proud of you, Luke. I would bet that she's watching us now from wherever she is now," he said.

A light blinked above them and Han's voice rang out, "We're approaching our destination now," he said.

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The Falcon soars into and lands in a huge spaceship hangar, set up in the interior of the crumbling temple. Willard, the commander of the Rebel forces, rushes up to the group and gives Leia a big hug. Every one is pleased to see her.

"You're safe! We had feared the worst," Willard said and let her go giving her a bow, "When we heard about Alderaan, we were afraid that you were... lost along with your father."

"We don't have time for our sorrows, Commander. The battle station has surely tracked us here," she looked pointedly at Han, "It's the only explanation for the ease of our escape. You must use the information in this R2 unit to plan the attack. It is our only hope."

"Skywalker!" someone shouted and a man embraced Luke into a brotherly hug. "Did your uncle finally let you leave that farm?" Biggs Darklighter said ruffling Luke's hair.

Luke grinned at his friend before frowning, "The farm is destroyed, Strom troopers arrived and killed Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru while I was out," Luke told him.

Biggs frowned. "I'm sorry, Luke. Hey are you alright?"

Luke looked over at Anakin who was watching the exchange with interest. "Going to introduce me to your friend, Luke?" Anakin asked.

Luke grinned remembering Anakin's plan from earlier. "Biggs, this is my brother, Anakin, he came to find me the day that Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen died, he's the reason why I wasn't home at the time," he said.

Biggs frowned. "I didn't know you had a brother," he said eying Anakin suspiciously.

"After our parents were killed, we were split up amongst our family members, now it's just the two of us. Lets just say that Darth Vader really doesn't like Skywalkers," Anakin said.

Biggs smiled and shook Anakin's hand, "A brother of Luke's is a brother of mine," he said. He then slung an arm around Luke's shoulders, "Come on, you're one of us now, time to get you an X-wing, we could use your piloting skills," he said.

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In the briefing room, Rebel leader Dodonna stands before a large electronic wall display. Leia and several other senators are to one side of the giant readout. The low-ceilinged room is filled with starpilots, navigators, and a sprinkling of R2-type droids. Everyone is listening intently to what Dodonna is saying. Han and Chewbacca are standing near the back.

"The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the star fleet. It's defenses are designed around a direct large-scale assault. A small one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defense," Dodonna said.

Another rebel spoke up, "Pardon me for asking, sir, but what good are snub fighters going to be against that?" he asked.

"Well, the Empire doesn't consider a small one-man fighter to be any threat, or they'd have a tighter defense. An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station," Artoo-Detoo stands next to a similar robot, makes beeping sounds, and turns his head from right to left. Doddonna continues. "The approach will not be easy. You are required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station," A mummer of disbelief runs through the room. "Only a precise hit will set up a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes."

Anakin and Luke are sitting nest to Wedge Antilles, a sixteen year old pilot, "That's impossible, even for a computer. Besides flying through that trench is impossible even for the best starpilots," Wedge said.

Luke leans over to him, "It's not impossible. I used to bull's-eye womp rats in my T-sixteen back home. They're not much bigger than two meters," he said.

"I agree, I used to race a pod racer when I was nine around the old pod race arena, it's no different," Anakin added.

Wedge shook his head, "You do know that pod racing is illegal," he said to Anakin who grinned.

"Rules don't apply to me," Anakin told him arrogantly.

"Man your ships! And may the Force be with you!" Dodonna shouted dismissing the group who stood up and headed to their X-wings.

Anakin stopped Luke, "I'll cover you while you fire that shot to destroy the death star," he said.

"What makes you think I'll make the shot?" Luke said raising an eyebrow.

Anakin leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, "Because you're my son and the force is strong with you. I know it's you who'll make that shot," he said and patted Luke's shoulder.

In the hanger Han and Chewbacca are loading small boxes onto the Falcon. Han is deliberately ignoring the activity of the fighter pilots preparation.

Luke walks over to him as a man's voice over the loud speaker tells them to man their ships. "So...you got your reward and you're just leaving then?" Luke said angrily.

"That's right, yeah! I got some old debts I've got to pay off with this stuff. Even if I didn't, you don't think I'd be fool enough to stick around here, do you? Why don't you come with us? You're pretty good in a fight. I could use you," Han said.

"Come on! Why don't you take a look around? You know what's about to happen, what they're up against. They could use a good pilot like you. You're turning your back on them," Luke said getting angry and trying to convince Han to stay.

"What good's a reward if you ain't around to use it? Besides, attacking that battle station ain't my idea of courage. It's more like suicide," Han argued.

"All right. Well, take care of yourself, Han. I guess that's what you're best at, isn't it?" Luke said Leaving to join his father who was waiting with folded arms.

Han shouted after him, "Hey, Luke...may the Force be with you!" he said.

Luke turned around to see Han wink at him and lifted his hand in a small wave. Anakin placed a hand on Luke's shoulder, "He'll come around," Anakin said encouragingly.

Leia walked up to them and saw Luke's face. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Luke looked up at her, "Oh, it's Han! I don't know, I really thought he'd change his mind," he said.

"He's got to follow his own path. No one can choose it for him," Leia told him and gave both Luke and Anakin a small kiss before walking away to meet with Dodonna.

Anakin watched the princess go feeling a strong need to protect her, he shook his head, telling himself that it was because of how much she reminded him of Padme. He turned to Luke, "It's now or never," he said jumping into his X-wing. A R2 unit was being lowered into it.

Red leader walks up to Luke, "Are you...Luke Skywalker? Have you been checked out on the Incom T-sixty-five?" he said.

Biggs came around and slung an arm around Luke's shoulder. "Sir, Luke is the best pilot in the outer rim territories," he said.

Red leader smiled and patted Luke's shoulder. "I met your father once when I was just a boy, he was a great pilot. You'll do all right. If you've got half of your father's skill, you'll do better than all right," he said.

"Thank you, sir. I'll try," Luke said nodding. Red leader smiles and hurries into his own ship.

Luke turned to Biggs, "I told you I'd make it someday, Biggs," he said.

Biggs patted Luke's shoulder "You did, all right. It's going to be like old times, Luke. We're a couple of shooting stars that'll never be stopped!" Biggs shouted going to his own ship.

Luke laughed and climbed into his own ship. As Luke begins to climb up the ladder into his sleek, deadly spaceship, the crew chief, who is working on the craft, points to little Artoo, who is being hoisted into a socket on the back of the fighter.

"This R2 unit of your seems a bit beat up. Do you want a new one?" the crew chief asked.

Luke shook his head. "Not on your life! That little droid and I have been through a lot together," he said and turned to Artoo, "You okay, Artoo?" The little droid beeps a reply and Luke grins.

The crewmen lower Artoo-Detoo into the craft. Now a part of the exterior shell of the starship, the little droid beeps that he is fine. Luke climbs up into the cockpit of his fighter and puts on his helmet. Threepio looks on from the floor of the massive hangar as the crewmen secure his little electronic partner into Luke's X-wing. It's an emotional-filled moment as Artoo beeps good-bye.

"Hang on tight,Artoo, you've got to come back," Threepio said. Artoo beeps in agreement. "You wouldn't want my life to get boring, would you?" Threepio said and Artoo whistles his reply.

All final preparations are made for the approaching battle. The hangar is buzzing with the last minute activity as the pilots and crewmen alike make their final adjustments. The hum of activity is occasionally trespassed by the distorted voice of the loudspeaker issuing commands. Coupling hoses are disconnected from the ships as they are fueled. Cockpit shields roll smoothly into place over each pilot. A signalman, holding red guiding lights, directs the ships. Luke, a trace of a smile gracing his lips, peers about through his goggles.

"_Luke, the Force will be with you" _The voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi said. Luke is confused at the voice and taps his headphones.

In the war room the princess, Threepio, and a field commander sit quietly before the giant display showing the planet Yavin and its four moons. The red dot that represents the Death Star moves ever closer to the system. A series of green dots appear around the fourth moon. A din of indistinct chatter fills the war room.

"Stand-by alert. Death Star approaching. Estimated time to firing range, fifteen minutes," a voice echoes throughout the base.

Anakin speaks to Luke through the headphones. "This is where the fun begins," he said and Luke grinned.

The Death Star slowly moves behind the massive yellow surface of Yavin in the foreground, as many X-wing fighters flying in formation zoom toward space.

Luke and Anakin tell red leader that they standing by and lift their X-wings from the ground and fly into space as the Death Star approaches them.

The fighters, now X-shaped darts, move in formation. The Death Star now appears to be a small moon growing rapidly in size as the Rebel fighters approach. Complex patterns on the metallic surface begin to become visible. A large dish antenna is built into the surface on one side.

"Accelerate to attack speed. This is it, boys!" Red leader said over the headphones.

"I'm ready to have some fun!" Anakin said over the headphones and Red leader shook his head convincing himself that he was imagining things.

"Copy that, Anakin," Luke said over the headphones.

Anakin and Luke accelerated their speed towards the death star. "Whoooo hoooo!" Anakin shouted like a mad man as he pulled a crazy stunt. Luke watched his father's antics and laughed.

As the fighters move closer to the Death Star, the awesome size of the gargantuan Imperial fortress is revealed. Half of the deadly space station is in shadow and this area sparkles with thousands of small lights running in thin lines and occasionally grouped in large clusters; somewhat like a city at night as seen from a weather satellite.

"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader," Gold Leader said over the headphones.

"I copy, Gold Leader," Red Leader said.

"We're starting for the target shaft now," Gold Leader said.

Red Leader looks around at his wingmen; the Death Star looming in from behind. Two Y-wing fighters bob back and forth in the background. He moves his computer targeting device into position. "We're in position. I'm going to cut across the axis and try and draw their fire," he said.

Luke nosedives radically, starting his attack on the monstrous fortress. The Death Star surface streaks past the cockpit window. "This is Red Five; I'm going in!" he said.

"This is red four, I'm covering red five," Anakin said into the headphones following Luke's X-wing as it races toward the Death Star. Laserbolts streak from Luke's weapons, creating a huge fireball explosion on the dim surface. Terror crosses Luke's face as he realizes he won't be able to pull out in time to avoid the fireball.

"Luke pull up!" Both Anakin and Biggs shouted.

Luke's ship emerges from the fireball, with the leading edges of his wings slightly scorched. Luke adjusts his controls and breathes a sigh of relief. Flak bursts outside the cockpit window. "I got a little cooked, but I'm okay," Luke said.

Rebel fighters continue to strafe the Death Star's surface with laserbolts.

"Luke, let me know when you're going in," Red Leader shouts. The Red Leader's X-wing flies past Luke as he puts his nose down and starts his attack dive. "Watch yourself! There's a lot of fire coming from the right side of that deflection tower," Red Leader said.

"I'm on it," Luke said. Luke flings his X-wing into a twisting dive across the horizon and down onto the dim gray surface. A shot hurls from Luke's guns. Laserbolts streak toward the onrushing Death Star surface. Several small radar emplacements erupt in flame. Laserfire erupts from a protruding tower on the surface. The blurry Death Star surface races past the cockpit window as a big smile sweeps across Luke's face at the success of his run. Flak thunders on all sides of him. The Death Star superstructure races past Luke as he maneuvers his craft through a wall of laserfire and peels away from the surface towards the heavens.

In the war room Princess Leia, surrounded by her generals and aides, paces nervously before a lighted computer table. On all sides technicians work in front of many lighted glass walls. Dodonna watches quietly from one corner. One of the officers working over a screen speaks into his headset.

"Squad leaders, we've picked up a new group of signals. Enemy fighters coming your way," the control officer said.

Luke looks around to see if he can spot the approaching Imperial fighters, "My scope's negative. I don't see anything," he said.

"Use the force Luke!" Anakin shouted and then paused. He felt him before he saw him. Vader. "Luke, handle yourself, I sense Vader amongst the Imperial fighters, I'm going after him!" he shouted.

"Copy that!" Luke shouted over the headphones.

Anakin pulled his X-wing up just in time to see Vader's customized TIE fighter coming out with the other TIE fighters, Anakin pulled up behind him and began firring. "You're going down Sith!" Anakin shouted.

Vader's ship eluded Anakin's firring and zeroed in on Bigg's X-wing and fires several laserbolts at Biggs. Bigg's X-wing exploded on sight and Anakin cursed in huttiese.

Vader's ship zeros in on Luke's as Luke flew closer to his goal. Anakin fired at the sith lord once more and missed again. Again he cursed in huttiese.

The Tie fighters blast some more X-wings and it seemed as though they were winning until the Millennium Falcon shows up distracting the Tie fighters in time for the remaining X-wings to outnumber the TIE fighters by blasting them, gaining the upper hand.

"Wooo hoooo!" Han Solo shouted over the frequency, "Miss me boys!"

Luke grinned as he caught sight of the Falcon, "I knew you'd be back!" he shouted. Luke raced through the death star canyon hurrying towards the thermal exhaust port, right below the main port with Vader on his heals firing at him.

Anakin fired at Vader TIE fighter hitting him and making him spin out of control into space. "Gotcha!" Anakin shouted gleefully, "Luke! Your free and clear hit the target!"

"Copy that!" Luke said and dived closer in the trench using the force to guide him. Seeing his target he blasts laser torpedoes and pulls up. "I got it, pull up, this things about to blow!" Luke shouted into the headphones.

All the X-wing fighters pull up and away from the death star as a huge explosion echoes throughout space. As the death star blew up you could hear the rebels cheer at their victory. The remaining TIE fighters which weren't many flew for cover leaving for the nearest station in defeat.

The rebels all gathered back to base hugging and slapping each other on the backs. The Millennium Falcon landed outside the rebel base and Han entered the hanger. Luke spotted him and embraced him. Han ruffled Luke's hair.

"I knew you'd come back!" Luke said.

"Well, I wasn't gonna let you get all the credit and take all the reward," Han said.

Luke grinned and saw Anakin staying off to the side observing everyone for once in his life. Anakin enjoyed watching everyone for once being in the shadow instead of the spotlight. Here he wasn't the chosen one, he wasn't the hero without fear, he was just Anakin Skywalker and he liked it. Anakin watched as Luke was surrounded by rebels congratulated him. He watched as the princess rushed up to both Han and Luke, embracing them both before kissing their cheeks.

Luke somehow managed his way out of the crowd and walked over to his father. Anakin grinned at him. "Enjoying the spotlight?" Anakin asked.

"For the moment. Why are you standing over here, you're as much a part of this as I am," Luke said.

Anakin shook his head. "I've had enough spotlight in my life to last me a lifetime, go, be with your friends," Anakin told him.

Luke looked around expecting Biggs to show up, but he didn't. Anakin noticed this and frowned sadly, "Biggs didn't make it, Luke, Vader shot down his ship," he said and Luke looked at him sharply.

Luke shook his head and frowned sadly, "What'll I tel his family?" he asked sadly.

Anakin placed a hand on Luke's should, "You tell them, that he died an honorable death fighting on the good side, doing what was right," he said. He smiled, "Now get back in there and celebrate," he said pushing Luke back towards his friends. Luke smiles and goes back to his friends.

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Anakin, Luke, Han, and Chewbacca enter the huge ruins of the main temple. Hundreds of troops are lined up in neat rows. Banners are flying and at the far end stands a vision in white, the beautiful young Senator Leia Organa. Luke and the others solemnly march up the long aisle and kneel before Leia. From one side of the temple marches a shined-up Artoo-Detoo. He waddles up to the group and stands next to and equally pristine Threepio, who is rather awestruck by the whole event. Chewbacca is confused. Dodonna and several other dignitaries sit on the left of the Princess Leia. Leia is dressed in a long white dress and is staggeringly beautiful. She rises and places a gold medallion around Han's neck. He winks at her. She then repeats the ceremony with Luke, who is moved by the event. She finishes with Anakin, who bows to her. They turn and face the assembled troops, who all bow before them. Chewbacca growls and Artoo beeps with happiness.

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After the ceremony was over Luke and Anakin sat outside on the ground with the temple buildings supporting their backs. Luke is picking at the grass, while Anakin has his head leaned back against the temples wall with his eyes closed.

"I wish Ben were here," Luke whisperers.

"So do I," Anakin said, "I really don't know what to do now without him, We've fought alongside one another since I was nine. He was my brother." Luke looked over at his father and let him continue. "He knew that he was going to die aboard the death star. He knew and I knew that it was his path. There was nothing that either of us could do about that. But it doesn't stop his death from being painful. He's just one more person I have to avenge."

"You can't go up against Vader, he'll kill you," Luke said.

Anakin looked over at his son, "No. He won't," he said determinedly. "He won't get the chance because it is I who will kill him."

"How many people have you killed?" Luke asked and Anakin looked at him sharply.

"I haven't killed anyone, yet... But with the clone wars, you never know. War isn't easy, you have to make choices that you don't like, but it doesn't stop from haunting you. But it's a good thing that it haunts you, because if it doesn't, that's when you become a monster. The sith are like that, they don't care who they kill, they don't care what they destroy, all that matters to them is power," Anakin told him.

"What about the jedi? What are they like?" Luke asked.

"The jedi are selfless, they only care about others. The jedi are the keepers of peace and justice in the galaxy," Anakin told him. He then put a hand on Luke's shoulder, "You'll make a great jedi someday, I can sense it," he said.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" Han said spotting the two.

"Reflecting," Luke said as Leia joined them.

"We're closing the base up, you guys better get inside," she said helping Luke and Anakin up.

"We wouldn't want to be locked outside," Anakin said as they went back inside. Tomorrow they all were moving to a new base seeing as Yavin four was now no longer safe due to the death star.

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Darth Vader sat in the hyperbaric chamber needed to sustain his life and reflected on the escape of the rebels and the destruction of the death star. Kenobi is now dead, but the matter of the rebel who mocked him as he escaped the death star was another matter. He wore old jedi robes and had a padawan hair cut. Could Kenobi have been training jedi in the past twenty years? And what about his companion who screamed over Kenobi's death? Was he a jedi too? No. he must have only begun his training. Vader had no doubt that those two rebels were the ones who destroyed the death star, one was following him and the other was the one who destroyed the death star, that much was for sure. They were both extremely strong with the force. Vader knew that he had to find them, and make them pay. Maybe he would take one as his apprentice and overthrow the Emperor. Vader smiled at the thought. Yes, he would do just that.


	6. Escape from Hoth

It has been three years since Anakin had been blasted into the future. Three years and he had no hope or any idea how he was going to get back to his own time. It has been three years since Obi-Wan Kenobi, his brother/mentor/friend died at the sith lord Darth Vader's hand. It has been three years since he had seen his beloved wife, Padme. It has been three years since he first fought alongside Luke in his rebellion against the Evil Galactic Empire. Three years and he barely had time to train Luke due to their constant fights against the Empire and moving from planet to planet. Now Darth Vader was obsessed with finding the Skywalker 'brothers'.

They were currently on the icy planet of Hoth and Anakin decided that snow and ice was next on the list with sand. It was wet, cold and it got everywhere. Everyone wore thermal suits, all except him and Luke. No, Anakin had sneaked into the jedi temple two and a half years ago and gotten both him and Luke jedi robes for all weather conditions. He wasn't wearing anything other than jedi robes and neither was Luke.

Currently Anakin and Luke were customizing their X-wings in the hanger until General Rieekan came over and told Luke that it was his and Han Solo's turn to check and make sure that they were still safe on Hoth by patrolling the perimeter of their base. Luke, not one to disobey orders- he got that from Padme, Anakin decided- got up and saddled up a Tauntaun and was out with Han in a matter of minutes.

After a few minutes Anakin dropped a tool he was working with and it fell on his forehead making him curse in huttiese.

"That's a rather crude language, what is it?" Leia's voice said and Anakin quickly pulled himself out from under his X-wing. He liked Leia's company just as much as Luke's and he told himself that it was because of her resemblance to Padme.

"It's huttiese, the native tongue of Tatooine," Anakin told her.

"I've noticed that you and Luke converse in your native tongue when you don't want anyone listening in on your conversation," Leia said.

Anakin went back to working on his X-wing, "That's when we talk about family business that isn't anyone's business," he told her.

"I understand, although it could prove useful to the Alliance if we were to use a language that the Empire wouldn't know," Leia suggested.

Anakin laughed a little, "I'm sure the Empire makes a note of how to speak certain tongues," he told her.

He could sense Leia frown. "The Empire doesn't take the time to learn tongues of any none humans, they're very prejudiced against non humans," she told him.

Anakin looked up at her and saw the same determined look on her faces as Padme would have in this conversation and he was struck once again at her resemblance to Padme. He stopped working on his X-wing and thought about her suggestion again. "Look, Huttiese is a very complicated tongue to learn. The only reason Luke and I can speak it is because we've spoke in it since birth. The rebellion doesn't have time to learn it," he told her and went back to his work.

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Meanwhile outside on the surface of Hoth a small figure galloped across the windswept ice slope. The bundled rider in jedi robes is mounted on a large gray snow lizard, a Tauntaun. Curving plumes of snow rise from beneath the speeding paws of the two-legged beast. The rider gallops up a slope and reins his lizard to a stop. Pulling off his protective goggles, Luke Skywalker notices something in the sky. He takes a pair of electrobinoculars from his utility belt and through them sees smoke rising from where the probe droid has crashed. The wind whips at Luke's fur-lined cap and he activates a comlink transmitter. His Tauntaun shifts and moans nervously beneath him.

"Echo Three to Echo Seven. Han, old buddy, do you read me?" Luke said into his comlink.

After a little static a familiar voice is heard. "Loud and clear, kid. What's up?" Han said.

"Well, I finished my circle. I don't pick up any life readings," Luke said

"There isn't enough life on this ice cube to fill a space cruiser. The sensors are placed. I'm going back," Han said.

"Right. I'll see you shortly. There's a meteorite that hit the ground near here. I want to check it out. It won't take long," Luke said and he clicks off his transmitter and reins back on his nervous lizard. He pats the beast on the head to calm it. "Hey, steady girl. What's the matter? You smell something?" he said and takes a small device from his belt and starts to adjust it when suddenly a large shadow falls over him from behind. He hears a monstrous howl and turns to see an eleven foot-tall shape towering over him. It is a Wampa Ice Creature, lunging at him ferociously, Luke yelled and grabbed for his blaster, but is hit flat in the face by a huge white claw. He fell unconscious into the snow and in a moment the terrified screams of the Tauntaun are cut short by the horrible snap of a neck being broken. The Wampa Ice Creature grabs Luke by one ankle and drags him away across the frozen plain.

In the rebel base, rebel troopers rush about unloading supplies and otherwise securing their new base. Han Solo, swings off his tuantaun and pulls off his goggles. He walks into the main hangar deck toward the Millennium Falcon, which is parked among several fighters. Mechanics, R2 units, and various other droids hurry about. Han stops at the Millennium Falcon where Chewbacca, is welding on a central lifter. Chewie stops his work and lifts his face shield, growling an irritated greeting to his boss.

"All right, don't lose your temper. I'll come right back and give you a hand," Han shouted in reply. Chewbacca puts his mask back on and returns to his welding as Han leaves for the command center where he meets General Rieekan who straightens up from a console at Han's approach .

"No sign of life out there, General. The sensors are in place. You'll know if anything comes around," Han said.

"Commander Luke Skywalker reported in yet?" General Rieekan asked.

"No. He's checking out a meteorite that hit near him," Han told him.

"With all the meteor activity in this system, it's going to be difficult to spot approaching ships," General Rieekan said.

Taking a deep breath, Han blurts out what is on his mind, "General, I've got to leave. I can't stay anymore," he said.

Leia is standing at a console nearby and over hears the conversation, she seems generally upset over it.

"I'm sorry to hear that," General Rieekan said.

"Well, there's a price on my head. If I don't pay off Jabba the Hut, I'm a dead man," Han told him.

"A death mark's not an easy thing to live with. You're a good fighter, Solo. I hate to lose you," General Rieekan said clamping him on the shoulder.

"Thank you, General," Han said and turned to Leia, "Well, Your Highness, I guess this is it," he said.

"That's right," Leia said.

Seeing she has no warmth to offer him. He shakes his head and adopts a sarcastic tone "Well, don't get all mushy on me. So long, Princess," he said and storms away.

Leia follows him out into the corridor, "Han!" she yells.

Han stops in the corridor and turns to face Leia. "Yes, Your Highness?" he said raising an eyebrow.

"I thought you decided to stay," she said.

"Well, the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed my mind," Han told her.

"Han we need you," She told him.

"We need?" Han asked.

"Yes," Leia answered.

"What about you need?" Han demanded.

"I need? I don't know what you're talking about," Leia said.

Han shook his head fed up. "You probably don't," he said bitterly.

"And what precisely am I supposed to know?" Leia demanded to know.

"Come on! You want me to stay because of the way you feel about me," Han told her.

"Yes. You're a great help to us. You're a natural leader..." Leia told him.

"No! That's not it. Come on. Aahhh -- uh huh! Come on," Han said dangerously close to her face.

Leia stares at him, understanding, then laughs. "You're imagining things," she told him.

"Am I? Then why are you following me? Afraid I was going to leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?" Han said.

Leia looks mad, "I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee," Leia told him.

"I can arrange that. You could use a good kiss!" Han yelled and stormed away.

Unknown to them Anakin Skywalker had witnessed the whole thing. Shaking his head sadly, he had some bad news for Luke.

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In the main hanger Anakin and Chewbacca were helping Han put back together parts of the Millennium Falcon. When Threepio and Artoo showed up.

"Excuse me, sirs. Might I have a word with you, please?" Threepio said getting Anakin and Han's attention.

"What do you want?" Han irritably asked.

"Well, it's Princess Leia, sir. She's been trying to get you on the communicator," Threepio said.

"I turned it off. I don't want to talk to her," Han said irritably.

"Oh. Well, Princess Leia is wondering about Master Luke. He hasn't come back yet. She doesn't know where he is," Threepio said.

"I don't know where he is," Han instantly replied.

"Luke isn't back yet?" Anakin said a feeling of dread creeping up on him.

"No sir. Nobody knows where he is" Threepio said.

Anakin jumped down from the falcon and rushed to deck officer with Han close on his heals. "Do you know where Commander Luke Skywalker is?" Anakin demanded.

"I haven't seen him. It's possible he came in through the south entrance," the deck officer said.

"It's possible? Why don't you go find out? It's getting dark out there," Han said.

"Yes, sir," the deck officer said and went to check. He came back and addressed Han and Anakin, "Sirs, Commander Luke Skywalker hasn't come in through the south entrance. He might have forgotten to check in," he said.

"Not likely," Anakin told him tartly.

"Are the speeders ready?" Han asked.

"Not yet. We're having some trouble adapting them to the cold," the deck officer said.

Before anyone could respond, Anakin jumped on one of the tuantuans getting ready to go out looking for Luke.

The deck officer tried to stop him. "Sir, the temperature's dropping too rapidly," he said.

"That's right and my...brother's out there, he's all I got!" Anakin shouted. Before he could leave Han jumped onto another tuantuan.

"I'm coming with you, Luke's my friend, I ain't leaving him out there," Han said and Anakin nodded to him.

"Your Tauntaun'll freeze before you reach the first marker!" the deck officer told them as they left out into the cold.

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The jagged face of a huge ice wall sits gloomily in the dim twilight of a Hoth day. Luke hangs upside down, ankles frozen into icy stalactites, his arms are within a foot of the snow floor. One side of his face is covered in a dried mask of frozen blood. He opened his eyes as the chilling moan of the hideous ice creature echoes off the gorge walls. Luke pulled himself up, grabs hold of his ankles, and futilely tries to unfasten the throngs. Exhausted, he dropped back into his hanging position. As he hangs there, he spies his lightsaber lying near a pile of his discarded gear, about three feet out of reach. He focused on the saber and, as his hand strains toward the weapon, he squeezed his eyes tight in concentration. Just as the ice creature looms over Luke, the lightsaber jumped into Luke's hand. He instantly ignites his lightsaber, swings up, and cuts himself loose from the ice. He flopped to the snow in a heap. The startled creature moved back, his giant yellow eyes blinking. Luke scrambles to his feet. He swings his lightsaber and the beast screams in pain as he cuts off the beasts arm. Taking the opportunity, he escapes the creatures cave and runs out into the icy planet. Weak and exhausted, he stumbles down a snow bank. The wind is blowing quite strong now. Luke struggled to stay upright, but a blast of freezing snow knocks him over. He struggled to get up, but he can't. He dragged himself a couple of feet and then collapses. Luke laid face down in the snow, nearly unconscious. Slowly he looks up and sees Obi-Wan Kenobi, barely visible through the blowing snow. It is hard to tell if Kenobi is real or a hallucination.

"Luke," Obi-Wan said.

"Ben?" Luke questions weakly.

"You will go to the Dagobah system," Obi-Wan said.

"Dagobah system?" Luke muttered.

"There you will learn from Yoda, the Jedi Master who instructed me," Kenobi told him and disappeared.

As two tuantuan riders show up, Luke mumbles about Ben and Dagobah systems.

Anakin swiftly jumped down from his tauntuan and kneels at Luke's side pulling him up against him. "Luke! Luke! Don't do this, Luke. Come on, give me a sign here!" he frantically cried as Han joins him rubbing Luke's cheeks to try to get some warmth to him.

"Alright Kid, come on! You can do this!" Han said frantically.

Anakin pulled Luke's unconscious form closer to him and began rocking back and forth. "Don't do this to me Luke, You're all I got in this world. Don't Do This!" he muttered and looked up to the sky. "Please Mom, don't let him die! Padme, come on, help your son!" he shouted up into the sky.

Han looked over at Anakin. "You guys got to different mothers?" he said surprised.

Anakin looked over at Han, "What? Oh! Of course we have different mothers!" he said and turned back to Luke and noticed the blood on his face. "What happened to you, son?" he whispered so that Han wouldn't hear him.

"I'm going to get the shelter built, it looks like we'll be out here for a while," Han said.

Anakin nodded and pulled Luke closer. Faintly he heard Luke mumbling. Anakin leaned closer to hear what Luke was saying.

"Ben...Dagobah system..." Luke mumbled.

"What does Obi-Wan have to do with the Dagobah system?" Anakin muttered.

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In the early morning hours Anakin opened his eyes. Luke was still unconscious laying next to him in the tent. Solo was still sleeping, a clear indicator was his snores. No, that wasn't what woke Anakin up, nor was it Luke stirring. No. It was the transparent form kneeling next to Luke. Her hand softly brushing Luke's hair. Her chocolate curls framed her face. Anakin watched transfixed as she slowly bent down and kissed Luke's forehead.

"Oh, Luke. How handsome you have become, just like your father," she whispered.

Anakin didn't want to turn his eyes away from her, in fear that she'll disappear. Solo's snoring was now becoming fainter. They were still on going, but they were fainter. Anakin sat up as she continued stroking Luke's hair. "Padme?" he whispered.

She turned to him and smiled radiantly. "Oh Ani, isn't he wonderful? Our son," she said.

Anakin nodded and smiled. "He is something," he agreed.

Padme turned back at Luke and smiled down at him. "They're both so wonderful, Ani. Both so wonderful," she said.

Anakin was confused, "Both?" he asked her.

"We have truly been blessed with two wonderful children. Oh I know they'll succeed, they'll bring justice back to the galaxy, freedom. We could ask for no more," she said.

"Children? There's more than one?" Anakin asked confused. Padme smiled at him and then pressed her finger to her lips before disappearing.

Anakin quickly stood up and looked around hoping to see where his wife had gone. That's when he heard it. A speeder. Then there was a crackling sound coming from the comlink.

"This is Rouge Two. This is Rouge Two. Captain Solo, do you copy? Commander Skywalker, do you copy? This is Rouge Two," came the voice of Zev, one of Luke's squad of star pilots.

Anakin kicked Solo awake and then picked up his comlink. "Rouge Two, this is commander Anakin Skywalker, do you copy?" he said into the comlink.

"Whaddaya want!" Solo said sleepily.

"Copy that Blue Leader," Zev replied.

"Commander Luke Skywalker needs medical attention ASAP! Get a speeder over here immediately!" Anakin nearly shouted now back at Luke's side.

"Copy that Blue Leader," Zev said.

Anakin put down the comlink and rubbed Luke's cheek. "You hear that Luke? You're gonna be okay now," he said.

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Anakin paced nervously as Luke is submersed in the bacta tank. Leia and Han were in the room along with him. Leia watches over Luke with a worried look on her face while Han is standing beside her. Han places both hands on Leia's shoulders and she leans into him.

Anakin briefly noticed this before turning back to Luke. Was seeing Padme a part of his imagination? No. It couldn't have been. He knew that it was her. He felt her presence. That's what woke him up. He was sure of it. Padme was the reason that Luke hadn't frozen to death out there in the ice. He knew it was her. On that matter, what was she talking about? Two children? Was it possible? Could Luke have a brother or sister out there?

Suddenly Luke's eye opened and he began thrashing about in the bacta tank. The medical droids next to the bacta tank flips a switch and Luke is lifted out of the bacta tank.

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Luke sat up in a recovery-room bed, weak but smiling. His face shows terrible wounds from the Wampa's attack. Anakin swiftly strides into the room and grins at Luke. He sat down next to Luke on the bed and took Luke's jaw in his right gloved hand and turns his face to the side, looking over at the wound on his face.

"That's going to leave scar you know," Anakin said.

Luke smiles. "It could be worst," he said.

Anakin frowned. "You could be dead. For a moment I thought I was going to loose you," he said and then smiled. "You can thank your mother for your survival," he said softly.

Luke's eyes lit up at the mention of his mother. "You saw Mother? What did she say?" he asked.

Anakin opened his mouth to speak and then closed it. He then looked away at a spot to the right from Luke. "She's proud of you. Her exact wording was that you were wonderful," he said softly. He then looked back at Luke to see him smiling with his eyes closed. Probably trying to picture his mother. Anakin felt that he had to tell Luke what else Padme had said. "Listen, Luke..." he never got to finish because at that moment Threepio and Artoo came in.

"Master Luke, sir, it's good to see you fully functional again," Threepio said. Artoo beeped his good wishes. "Artoo expresses his relief, also," Threepio said.

Next to come in was Han and Chewbacca much to Anakin's irritation. At this rate he would never be able to tell Luke what Padme had said. He stood up and off to Luke's side letting Han get Luke's attention.

"How are you feeling, kid? You don't look so bad to me. In fact, you look strong enough to pull the ears off a Gundark," Han said and Chewie growled his agreement.

Luke smiled at his friend. "Thanks to you guys," he said.

"That's two you owe me, junior," Han said. He turns as Leia enters the room. He looks at her with a big, devilish grin. "Well your Worship, looks like you managed to keep me around for a little while longer," he said.

"I had nothing to do with it. General Rieekan thinks it's dangerous for any ships to leave the system until we've activated the energy shield," Leia said haughtily.

"That's a good story. I think you just can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight," Han said arrogantly.

"I don't know where you get you delusions, laser brain," Leia said.

Anakin hid his amused grin behind his right gloved hand. Chewie is also amused; he laughs in his manner. Han, enjoying himself, regarded Chewie good-humorously.

"Laugh it up, fuzz ball. But you didn't see us alone in the south passage," Han said.

Anakin glanced at Luke who looks at Leia questionably.

Han put an arm around Leia and continued. "She expressed her true feelings for me," he said arrogantly.

Leia flushed in anger looking from both Skywalkers to Han. "My...! Why, you stuck up,...half-witted,...scruffy-looking...nerf-herder!" she yelled.

"Who's scruffy-looking?" Han said looking offended. He then leaned closer to the Skywalkers and said, "I must have hit her pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh?"

To Anakin Leia looked a little vulnerable but then a mask is put on her face. She caught Anakin's intent look and held his gaze before looking at Han. "Why, I guess you don't know everything about women yet?" she said and then pressed herself up against Anakin and kissed him passionately.

Anakin is too shocked to react enough to push her away before she leans away and storms out of the room. The room is silent as Anakin stood there in shock with his eye bugging out. Inside he was screaming.

Suddenly, in the distance, the muffled sound of an alarm is heard. Followed by a voice over the loudspeaker. "Headquarters personnel, report to command center," the voice said.

The voice repeats the order and Han, Chewie, Artoo, and Threepio hurry out of the room, bidding farewell to Luke.

Anakin recovers from his shock as soon as they leave and starts rubbing his mouth on his sleeves and raced to the adjourning refresher to rinse his mouth out. Luke looks after him.

"Judging from how you're reacting, she should have kissed me," Luke said.

Anakin popped into view with a toothbrush in his mouth. "You'd like that wouldn't you," he said and popped back into the refresher to gurgle.

"I don't know why you're reacting so violently over it. If a beautiful woman like Leia kissed me, I'd be rather pleased," Luke said.

Anakin came out of the refresher and looked at Luke hard. "Leia kissing me was like my _daughter_ kissing me, it did _not_ sit right!" he said sternly.

"I suppose, Mother spoiled you for all women then," Luke said laughing and Anakin smacked him in the back of his head.

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In the command center General Rieekan looked up grimly from a console screen. He called over to Leia and Han. "Princess...we have a visitor," he said as they head over him. "We've picked up something outside the base in zone twelve, moving east, it's metal."

"Then it couldn't be one of those creatures that attacked Luke," Leia said.

"It could be a speeder, one of ours," Han suggested.

"No. Wait -- there's something very weak coming through," the senior controller said.

Threepio steps up to the control panel and listens intently to the strange signal. "Sir, I am fluent in six million forms of communication. This signal is not used by the Alliance. It could be an Imperial code," the droid said.

"It isn't friendly, whatever it is. Come on, Chewie, let's check it out," Han said and motioned for Chewbacca to follow him.

"Send Rouges Ten and Eleven to station three-eight," General Rieekan said.

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The dark probe droid moved past the smoldering ruins of station three-eight and down a ridge toward the Rebel base. It raised a large antenna from the top of its head and began to send out a piercing signal. The probe droid spotted Chewbacca who, not thirty feet away, had popped his head over a snow bank. Instantly, the probe droid swings around, its deadly ray ready to fire. But before it can get a shot off, it is hit from behind by a laser bolt, and exploded in a million pieces. Han Solo replaces his blaster in its holster and peered intently at the smoldering remains of the Imperial probe.

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Leia and Rieekan listen to Han on the comlink.

"Afraid there's not much left," Han said.

"What was it?" Leia asked.

"Droid of some kind. I didn't hit it that hard. It must have had a self-destruct," Han answered her.

"An Imperial probe droid," Leia concluded.

"It's a good bet the Empire knows we're here," Han said.

"We better start the evacuation," General Rieekan said.

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Alarms sound. Troops, ground crews, and droids rush to their alert stations. Armored snowspeeders are lined up in attack formation near the main entrance. In the midst of all this activity, Han does some frantic welding on the lifters of the Millennium Falcon. Han finished his work and hops down to the hangar floor. He pulls out his comlink, all the while eying problematic lifters.

"Okay, that's it. Try it...Off! Turn it off! Turn it off! Off!" Han shouts into his comlink. Smoke rises from a minor explosion on the lifter. Exasperated, Han surveys the new damage.

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As the alarms sound Luke finished putting on his jedi robes and straped on his utility belt before pulling his boots on. Anakin stood ready to help Luke if he needed it so soon after his recovery.

"Up to this fight?" Anakin asked.

"When are we ever?" Luke asked standing up and pulling on his black cloak. He picked up his lightsaber and attached it to his belt by his hip along with his blaster.

"I'd say we're always up to a good fight," Anakin said and grinned as he and Luke exited the medical center and headed to the hanger.

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Pilots, gunners, and R2 units scurry about as Luke and Anakin stride into the main hanger. They headed toward a row of armored speeders stopping at the rear of the Millennium Falcon, where Han and Chewie are trying to repair the right lifter with even more haste than before.

"Chewie take care of yourself," Luke said and Chewie gave Luke a big hug.

"Hey, Kid, You alright?" Han called down.

Luke nodded, "Yeah," he said.

Han smiled and nodded to Anakin, "Anakin,"

"Solo," Anakin said.

"Take care of Luke," Han said

"I intend to," Anakin said and was surprised when Chewie gave him a hug as well. Anakin laughed. "Take care, Chewie," he said.

The alarms broke the moment and the two Skywalkers hurried to their armored speeders each getting into their own speeder with their respective co pilots. Anakin glanced at a group of pilots nearby being briefed by Leia. Again he felt the urge to protect her. Shaking his head he lowered the shield.

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Rebel troops carried heavy bazooka-type weapons and positioned them along the snow trench. Men hurriedly responded to their officers' yelled orders and brace themselves against the rhythmic gusts of bitter-cold wind. Other troops load power packs into a gun turret and swing its guns into position.

Near the base power generators, troops rush to set up their heavy battle equipment. Buzzing loudly, the generators send along, sparking fingers of energy into the bitter Hoth wind.

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The long line of Rebel controllers are tense, as are Princess Leia and General Rieekan, who are trying very hard not to show any fear.

"Their primary target will be the power generators. Prepare to open the shield," Rieekan ordered.

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The Rebel transport and its escort raced away from the white planet, closely followed by the two red energy beams. As the Rebel transport races toward the waiting Imperial Star Destroyer, it is overtaken by the two scarlet energy bolts. The Imperial Star Destroyer is hit in the conning tower by the powerful bolts, which set up fiery explosions on its metal hull. The big Star Destroyer veered, then spined wildly out of control. As the Imperial ship careers into deep space, the Rebel transport races away to safety.

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A Rebel officer lifted a pair of electrobinoculars to his eyes. Through the lens he saw a very close view of a giant Imperial snow walker. He adjusted the view which then zoomed back to reveal three more of the ominous battle machines. Small flashes of yellow fire billow from the guns of the lumbering snow walkers. The officer lowered his binoculars as the regular rhythmic pounding began to make the ground vibrate. The pounding grows louder and is accompanied by a high-pitched, metallic rattling. The officer spoke into his comlink.

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"We have spotted Imperial walkers!" a rebel officer said over to comlink to the pilots.

Anakin braced himself as he lifted off. Padme's voice rang in his head. _I'm not afraid to die. I've been dying every day since you came back into my life. I love you, I just thought I'd tell you before we die. _Anakin was afraid of dying in this time. Back in his own time, he wasn't. But before he dies, he wants to make it back home. He hoped that he got that chance.

In the distance he saw the imperial walkers coming towards him. There was no time for fear.

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The Rebel troops aimed their weapons at the horizon as explosions erupt all around them. They are nervous and their grip on their weapons tightens from the cold and from fear. Behind the troops a dozen snowspeeders race through the sky.

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Luke braced himself as the imperial walkers came closer blasting away at his fellow rebels. He wasn't afraid to die, if he died fighting.

"All right, boys, keep tight now," Luke said in his comlink.

"Luke, I have no approach vector. I'm not set," Luke's co pilot said.

"Steady, Dack. Attack pattern delta. Go now!" Luke commanded. Lifting off.

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Luke turned his speeder and headed directly at one of the walkers, flying toward its towering legs. The horizon twisted as the speeder banks between the legs. Luke looks back at the walker as it grows smaller in the distance.

"That armor's too strong for blasters," Luke said into his comlink.

On the horizon, another walker moved up past Luke's cockpit window, twisting out of sight as Luke banks and started another run.

"Rouge Group, use your harpoons and tow cables. Go for the legs. It might be our only chance of stopping them," Luke said into his comlink.

"Luke, we've got a malfunction in fire control. I'll have to cut in the auxiliary," Dack, Luke's co pilot said.

"Just hang on. Hang on, Dack. Get ready to fire that tow cable," Luke said.

Barely keeping his seat in the tumbling ship, Dack struggles to set up his harpoon gun. Luke swings his speeder around and heads toward an oncoming walker. Laser bolts and flak fill the air, creating a deadly obstacle course for the tiny craft. After sustaining a heavy volley of fire, Luke turns around to see if Dack is all right.

"Dack? Dack!" Luke said but he gets no answer.

Dack is lost. Blood streams down his forehead, which rests on his smoldering controls. Out the back window, an Imperial walker recedes in the distance.

"Rouge Three," Luke said into his comlink.

"Copy Rouge Leader," the voice of Wedge Antilles said into the comlink.

"Wedge, I've lost my gunner. You'll have to make this shot. I'll cover for you. Set your harpoon. Follow me on the next pass," Luke said.

"Coming around, Rouge Leader," Wedge said.

Wedge's speeder races through the legs of one of the monstrous walkers.

"Steady, Rouge Two," Luke said.

Wedge's gunner reaches for a firing switch to activate the harpoon. The harpoon flashes out, and speeds toward the receding legs of the walker.

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Anakin struggled to remain in control of his speeder as the controls failed. He began cursing in huttiese. He looked over his shoulder at his co pilot, Nick, who was having the same problem.

"Nick, we're gonna have to abandon ship here," Anakin said.

"Copy that," Nick said as the speeder banked in the ice and the shield opened up. Anakin quickly jumped out of the speeder and helped Nick out just in time as an imperial walker came about. Anakin and Nick ducked for cover just as the walker blasted away their speeder sending ice flying on top of them.

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Wedge's speeder zooms away into the distance. The tangled legs of the imperial walker attempt a step, but as they do the giant Imperial walker begins to topple. It teeters for a moment, and then crashes onto the icy ground, sending snow and metal pieces flying. Wedge lets out a triumphant yell, banking his speeder away from the fallen walker.

"Whooha!! That got him!" Wedge said into his comlink.

"I see it, Wedge. Good work," Luke said.

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Large chunks of ice tumble into the command center as Leia and General Rieekan monitor computer screens.

"I don't think we can protect two transports at a time," Rieekan said.

"It's risky, but we can't hold out much longer. We have no choice," Leia said.

"Launch patrols," Rieekan said into the comlink.

"Evacuate remaining ground staff," Leia ordered.

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Muffled distant explosions create widening cracks in the ice roof of the hangar. Trying to ignore the noise and falling bits of snow, Han works on one of the Falcon's lifters while Chewie works on one of the wings. Noticing Chewie attach a wrong part, Han grows impatient.

"No, no! No! This one goes there, that one goes there. Right?" Han said instructing Chewie as he points to two different spots.

In another area of the hangar, Threepio watches as Artoo is raised up into Luke's X-wing fighter.

"Artoo, you take good care of Master Luke now, understand? And...do take care of yourself. Oh, dear, oh, dear," Threepio said.

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The fierce battle on the vast snow plains of Hoth rages on. The Imperial walkers continue their slow, steady assault on the Rebel base, firing lasers as they lumber ever onward. In the snow trench, Rebel troops fire large bazookalike guns and dishlike ray guns as explosions erupt around them. A gun tower is hit by a laser bolt and instantly explodes. Another blast destroys a ray gun

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Luke's speeder and Rouge Two fly in formation, banking from right to left and flying above the erupting battlefield. Flak bursts all around them. Luke, glancing over, saw Rouge Two on his left. His ship shudders as flak bursts nearby.

"Rouge Two are you alright?" Luke said into his comlink.

"Yeah. I'm with you, Rouge Leader," Zev said in the comlink.

Luke smiled. "Hold in there Zev," he said. "We'll set harpoon. I'll cover for you,"

"Coming around," Zev said.

"Watch that cross fire, boys," Luke said

"Set for position three, steady, "Zev said.

"Stay tight and low," Luke commanded.

Luke's speeder moved in formation with Rouge Two, when suddenly Zev's speeder is hit by a laser bolt. His ship bucks violently under the impact and the cockpit exploded in a ball of flame. Spewing smoke, the speeder hurtles toward a looming walker. Before they collide. Rouge Two explodes in a million flaming pieces.

Desperately, Luke worked the controls of his flak-buffeted ship. Suddenly, the speeder is rocked by a huge explosion. Luke struggled with the controls with a look of terror on his face. The speeder filled with smoke, and electrical sparks jump about the cockpit.

"Hobbie, I've been hit!" Luke said into the comlink.

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Anakin ran along side an imperial walker and jumped into the air landing on top of it. Bringing his lightsaber into his hand, he sliced a hole in the armor. As the walker moves Anakin almost losed his balance, but he regained it quickly. He pulled out a thermal detonator out of his supply pack and drops it into the walker. Quickly he flipped back down into the ground and gets out of the way as the walker blows up. Ice once again piles up on top of him.

"I hate ice," he muttered as he brushed himself off.

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Apart from the distant thunder of laser blasts, the corridor is strangely quiet and empty. Running footsteps echo through the freezing hallway, then Han appeared. Cracks have appeared in some of the walls and some pipes have broken, sending hot steam billowing into the underground hallways. Han hurried into the command center. It is a shambles, but some people are still at their posts. As he enters, a gigantic cave-in almost obliterates the room. He found Leia and Threepio near one of the control boards.

"You alright?" he asked.

Leia nodded. "Why are you still here?" she asked.

"I heard the command center had been hit," Han told her.

"You got your clearance to leave," Leia told him rushing about the room making sure things were going to be alright.

"Don't worry. I'll leave. First I'm going to get you to your ship," Han said grabbing her arm.

"Your Highness, we must take this last transport. It's our only hope," Threepio said.

"Send all troops in sector twelve to the south slope to protect the fighters," Leia ordered.

A blast rocks the command center, throwing Threepio backward into Han's arms.

"Imperial troops have entered the base!" a voice over the loudspeaker announced.

"Come on, time to go," Han said pulling Leia out of the room.

"Give the evacuation code signal. And get to your transports!" Leia ordered the controllers.

As Han, Leia, and Threepio run out of the command center, the code signal can be heard echoing off the corridor walls.

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On the battlefield, Luke watched as a walker foot rises and moves over him. He looks up at the underbelly of the huge walker, passing overhead. Running beneath the monstrous machine, Luke fired his harpoon gun at the walker's underside. A thin cable followed the projectile from the gun. The magnetic head and cable attach firmly to the metal hull. Still running under the walker, Luke attached the cable drum to his belt buckle. Soon he is pulled up the cable and hung dangling underneath the walker. The walker's giant feet continue to pound onward across the frozen snow. Stray laser bolts whistle by Luke as he climbed up the cable to the walker's hull, reaching a small hatch. Hanging precariously, Luke cut the solid metal hatch with his lightsaber. He took a landmine from around his neck and threw it inside the Imperial machine. Quickly, Luke started down the cable and crashed onto the icy ground far below. He laid there as a giant rear leg passes by -- and just misses him. The giant walker stops in mid-step. A muffled explosion came from within -- and then the walker's mechanical insides are spewed out every conceivable opening. The machine sat dead in its tracks, smoking like a locomotive on stilts.

Anakin raced over and pulled Luke up and the two Skywalkers raced to where their X-wings are waiting.

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With Threepio lagging behind, Han and Leia race through the crumbling ice corridors. Suddenly, there is an explosion. Han turned, grabbed the princess, and pulled her to the wall as a tremendous cave-in blacked their path. He took a comlink from his pocket.

"Transport, this is Solo. Better take off -- I can't get to you. I'll get the princess out on the Falcon," Han said. He and Leia turned and raced down the corridor.

"But...but...but...where are you going? Uh...come back!!" Threepio called racing after them.

Han and Leia ran toward the entrance of the main hangar where the Millennium Falcon is docked. Threepio still lags behind.

"Wait! Wait for me! Wait! Stop!" Threepio called and the door to the hanger closes in his face. "How typical," he muttered only the have the door reopen and someone pulled him inside.

Chewie paced under the shelter of the Millennium Falcon's landing gear. The giant Wookiee pats the underbelly of his beloved ship and barked a few reassuring words. As he searched worriedly for his captain, something at last caught his eye. Chewie let out a relieved shriek at seeing Han and Leia running toward the ship. The Wookiee ran out into the falling ice, let out a howl, then ran up the ship's ramp. Han and Leia run up the ramp after him, closely followed by Threepio.

"Hurry up, goldenrod, or you're going to be a permanent resident!"Han called as Threepio lagged behind calling for them to wait.

As soon as Threepio got inside the ship Han attempted to take off. Han flipped switches as Chewie watches a troublesome gauge. A worried Leia observes their efforts.

"How's this?" Han asked

Chewbacca barked a negative reply.

"Would it helped if I got out and pushed?" Leia said sarcastically.

"It might," Han replied flipping more controls.

"Captain Solo, Captain Solo...sir, might I suggest that you..." Threepio began but Han gave Threepio a stern look, "It could wait," he finished.

They moved to the cockpit where Han flipped some more switches. Leia watches him, impatient and disbelieving.

"This bucket of bolts is never going to get us past that blockade!" Leia told him.

"This baby's got a few surprises left in her, sweetheart," Han told her.

Han and Leia looked out the cockpit window and saw a squad of stormtroopers rushing into the far side of the hangar. Quickly, Han straped himself into the pilot's seat and Leia into the navigator's chair.

A laser gun appeared on the Falcon and swung around to aim at the Imperial troops. The stormtroopers, preparing to fire their bazooka cannon, are hit by the Falcon's fire and are thrown about in all directions.

Chewie rushed into the cockpit.

"Come on! Come on! Switch over. Let's hope we don't have a burnout," Han muttered.

A laser hit the window near Chewie as he is settling into his chair. Letting out a loud whelp, Chewie quickly pulled back on the controls and the first stage of engine fire can be heard. Han flashed a big grin at Leia.

"See!" Han told her.

"Someday you're going to be wrong, and I hope I'm there to see it," Leia told him.

Han turned to Chewie "Punch it!" he said.

The roar of the Falcon's main engines blasted out everything as the ice-cave wall rushed by outside the cockpit window.

Just as the Falcon took off a legion of storm troopers lead by Darth Vader entered the main hanger and watched as the Falcon took off out of their sight.

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Luke, Anakin and two other pilots looked up as the Millennium Falcon raced above them, flying very close to the ground. The four pilots turned then, and trudged onward toward their X-wing fighters, each going to his own ship. Luke waved farewell to the two extra pilots, then heads toward his own fighter. Artoo, seated on his cubbyhole, chirped an excited greeting as Luke climbed aboard the spacecraft.

Anakin grabed hold of Luke's arm, "I'll see you at the rendezvous, the force will be with you," he said and hugged Luke before getting into his own X-wing.

"Artoo! Get her ready for takeoff," Luke ordered.

Luke smiles and noded at Anakin in his X-wing, then lowered himself into the cockpit of his X-wing while Artoo waited in the cubbyhole, beeping impatiently.

"Don't worry, Artoo. We're going, we're going," Luke said and took off. Next to him he could see Anakin in his X-wing as they left the icy planet of Hoth.


	7. Asteroids, Dagobah and Yoda

Luke, made a decision. He flipped several switches. The stars shifted as he took his fighter into a steep turn. The X-wing shifted sharply and flew away in a new direction. The monitor screen on Luke's control panel printed out a question from the concerned Artoo.

"There's nothing wrong, Artoo. I'm just setting a new course," Luke said.

Artoo beeped another question.

"We're not going to regroup with the others," Luke said.

Artoo began protesting, whistling an unbelieving, "What?!" Luke read Artoo's exclamation on his control panel.

"We're going to the Dagobah system," Luke told the little droid.

Luke checked his readouts and made a few adjustments. He rode along with only the soft hum of the instruments breaking the silence. Finally, Artoo chirped up uttered a soft, carefully phrased steam of whistles.

"That's all right. I'd like to keep it on manual control for a while," Luke told the little droid.

The little droid let out a defeated whimper. Luke smiled, and continued on his course.

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The Millennium Falcon sped away from Hoth, closely followed by one huge Star Destroyer and four tiny TIE fighters. As it is pursued, the Falcon raced toward two very bright star-sized objects.

In the cockpit Chewie let out a loud howl. Han checked as the ship is buffeted by exploding flak. He appeared to be doing six things at once.

"I saw them! I saw them!" Han shouted.

"Saw what" Leia asked.

"Star Destroyers, two of them, coming right at us," Han said.

"Sir, sir! Might I suggest..." Threepio said bumping and banging into the cockpit.

"Shut him up or shut him down! Chewie check the deflector shield!" Han said flipping switches and adjusting the controls.

Chewie barks a reply as he readjusts an overhead switch.

"Oh, great! Well, we can still outmaneuver them," Han said pulling back some levers.

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The Millennium Falcon races toward one of the huge oncoming star destroyers. Suddenly, the falcon starts into a deep dive straight down, closely followed by four TIE fighters. The underside of the star destroyer continues on a collision course with two oncoming star destroyers. Slowly, it starts to veer to the left. The Millennium Falcon races away from the colliding star destroyers, still followed by four TIE fighters. Laser bolts spark the pitch-black skies.

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"Prepare to make the jump to light-speed," Han ordered.

"But sir!" Threepio protested but is ignored as Han adjusts some controls.

"They're getting closer!" Leia shouted.

"Oh, yeah? Watch this!" Han said and attempted to make the jump to light-speed but the hyperdrive failed. Han and Chewie exchange a look of concern.

"Watch what?" Leia said narrowing her eyes. A feeling of forbidding settling deep within her.

Han attempts to jump to hyperspace again but the hyperdrive is still failing. "I think we're in trouble," he said.

"If I may say so, sir, I noticed earlier the hyperdrive motivator has been damaged. It's impossible to go to light-speed!" Threepio said.

"We're in trouble!" Han said and jumped out of the cockpit and ran into the main hold into the maintenance access pit. He worked furiously at some control panels while giving various orders to Chewie.

"Horizontal boosters...!"

Chewie barked.

"Alluvial dampers...! Well that's not it,"

Again Chewie barked.

"Bring me the hydrospanners!" Han ordered.

Chewie hurried over to the pit and placed the tools on the edge.

Han popped back up from the pit and said, "I don't know how we're going to get out of this one," before grabbing a tool and disappearing again.

Suddenly, a loud thump hit the side of the Falcon, causing it to lurch radically. Chewie barked and the tools fell into the pit on top of Han.

"Oww! Chewie!" Han yelled from the pit. The ship rocked again and Han lifted himself out of the pit. "That was no laser blast! Something hit us," he said and raced back into the cockpit where he saw hundreds of asteroids race by.

Han changed places with Leia who had been at the controls, and Chewie got into his chair. Han worked his controls as a chunk of rock crossed in front of the ship.

"Chewie, set two-seven-one," Han said.

"What are you doing? You're not actually going into an asteroid field?" Leia asked from behind Han.

"They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?" Han said with a glint in his eye.

Another asteroid thumped against the ship and Leia winced at the jolt.

"You don't have to do this to impress me," Leia said.

"Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately three thousand, seven hundred and twenty to one," Threepio said.

"Never tell me the odds!" Han ordered as he navigated through the asteroid field.

Asteroids raced by the cockpit window as Han piloted his trusty craft through the dangerous field. Looking out the cockpit window, the Falcon crew saw a big asteroid drop past the window, narrowly missing their ship. Chewie barked in terror as a slightly smaller asteroid came especially close -- to close -- and bounced off the Falcon with a loud crunch. Threepio's hands covered his eyes. He managed a short peek at the cockpit window. Leia sat stone-faced, staring at the action. Han gave her a quick look.

"You said you wanted to be around when I made a mistake; well, this could be it, sweetheart," Han said.

"I take it back. We're going to get pulverized if we stay out here much longer," Leia said. They watched as more asteroids flew past the window.

"I'm not going to argue with that," Han said looking thoughtful. "I'm going in closer to one of the big ones," he said finally.

Everyone echoed the word 'closer' in alarm but Han ignored them and worked on the controls bringing the ship closer to a large asteroid. "There. That looks pretty good," he said.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Leia said.

"I hope so too," Han replied as he dipped down by a crater in the large asteroid and into a small cave going deep into the core of the asteroid.

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Anakin reached the rendezvous point on the planet of Riflor just as the leaders of the rebellion were discussing their new base which wasn't ready yet. Well, Anakin thought, it'll have to be ready now. As his X-wing landed he caught up with the rest of the pilots looking for Luke, but Anakin knew through the force that Luke wasn't on Riflor or anywhere near it for that matter. Where in the name of the sith did he go? Feeling frustrated he went over to the rebellion's leaders to see if they had any idea where Luke had gone

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Luke piloted his X-wing towards the cloudy cover of Dagobah. Artoo, rode on the back of the fighter, turning his head back and forth with some anxiety. The little droid beeped a question to Luke. Luke watched Artoo's words as they were translated and screened on the computer scope.

"Yes, that's it. Dagobah," Luke said into the comlink.

Artoo beeped a hopeful reply on whether or not they'll be turning back.

"No, I'm not going to change my mind about this. I'm not picking up any cities or technology. Massive life-form readings, though. There's something alive down there..." Luke said looking at his his computer.

Artoo beeped a worried reply and Luke smiled.

"Yes, I'm sure it's perfectly safe for droids," Luke said.

Luke saw the clouds race by as he took his X-wing to the planet. He operated his controls carefully since the cloudy cover has completely obscured his vision. An alarm buzzed in the background, Artoo beeped and whistled frantically.

"I know, I know! All the scopes are dead. I can't see a thing! Just hang on, I'm going to start the landing cycle" Luke said as he maneuvered his way to land. Only to land in a swamp of some kind.

Luke popped opened his X-wing and took off his gloves as he looked around. Dagobah was nothing but swamps. "Hardly a place for a jedi master to be," he muttered as he lifted himself out of the X-wing and tossed his helmet inside the X-wing. Carefully he made his way down into a shallow part of the swamp. Artoo whistled causing Luke to turn to him.

"No, Artoo, you stay put. I'll have a look around," Luke said.

Artoo let out a short beep as Luke made his way in the swamp. Artoo lifted himself from his cubbyhole in the X-wing and as he fell into the water of the swamp he made a worried whistling sound.

Luke jumped back onto the nose of his X-wing and looked at the spot where Artoo had been. "Artoo? Artoo! Where are you?" Luke called

A small periscope broke the surface of the water and Artoo let out a gurgled beep. The periscope started to move. Luke let out a relived breath.

"You be more careful," Luke admonished.

Artoo let out another gurgled beep.

"Artoo, that way," Luke said pointing in the direction of the shore, the opposite of where Artoo was going. Artoo let out another gurgled beep and headed for the shore.

Luke jumped off of the X-wing once again and headed to the shore when he sensed movement. Turing around quickly he saw something swallow Artoo. He pulled out his blaster and shot at the swamp beast. But Artoo was gone. The silence was deafening as Luke searched for any sign of Artoo, refusing to think of Artoo as gone. Suddenly a sound is heard and Artoo comes sailing out of the swamp with Artoo whistling all the way. Luke rushed to the spot where Artoo landed.

"Oh, no! Are you all right? Come on. You're lucky you don't taste very good. Anything broken?" Luke said helping the droid up and wiping sludge off of the droid. "If you're saying coming here was a bad idea, I'm beginning to agree with you. Oh, Artoo, what are we doing here? It's like... something out of a dream, or, I don't know. Maybe I'm just going crazy," Luke said glancing around the foggy swamp hearing all the different lifeforms around him. He looked back to Artoo to see him project a stream of slime.

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In the Millennium Falcon Han and Chewbacca were shutting down the engine and all electronic.

"I'm shutting down everything but the emergency power systems," Han said to Leia.

"Sir, I'm almost afraid to ask, but...does that include shutting me down, too?" Threepio asked.

Chewbacca barked a 'yes' but Han thinks otherwise.

"No, I need you to talk to the Falcon, find out what's wrong with the hyperdrive," Han said and suddenly the ship lurched violently causing every thing loose to go flying.

"Sir, it's quite possible this asteroid is not entirely stable," Threepio said

Han looked at the droid incredulously. "Not entirely stable? I'm glad you're here to tell us these things. Chewie, take the professor in the back and plug him into the hyperdrive," he said.

As Chewie took Threepio out of the cockpit Threepio muttered, "Oh! Sometimes I just don't understand human behavior. After all, I'm only trying to do my job in the most..."

The door closed behind the indignant Threepio as Chewie and he moved back to the hold. Suddenly, the ship lurched again, throwing Leia across the cabin into Han's arms Then, abruptly, the motion stopped as suddenly as it started. With some surprise, Han and Leia realized they are in each other's arms.

"Let go," Leia demanded.

Han put his finger up, "Sshh..." he said.

"Let go please," Leia said less demanding but a bit more pleadingly. She flushed a little, but didn't try to get away.

"Don't get excited," Han said in a mixture of suavely and cocky tone of voice.

Leia started to get angry, "Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited," Leia told him forcefully.

Han let her go and grinned wickedly at her. "Sorry, sweetheart. We haven't got time for anything else," he said and left the cockpit.

Once he was gone, Leia's confused emotions clearly showed on her face as she debated with her self over Han Solo.

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Anakin paced at the Riflor rendezvous point as the leaders of the rebellion discuss their new base.

"We've just received a codded message from Princess Leia, her and Captain Solo are hiding in an asteroid field eluding the imperial fleet. Still no word from Commander Luke Skywalker ," An officer said.

"Thank you, Durk," General Rieekan said and glanced at Anakin.

Anakin was aware of his gaze and continued to pace. At least Leia and Han were accounted for. Where are you Luke, he thought. Then he remembered something. Luke's muttering from when he almost froze to death. What are you up to Obi-Wan? Now knowing where Luke was, Anakin ran to his X-wing and jumped in.

"Commander! Where are you going?" an officer asked alarmed but Anakin ignored him and took off for Dagobah.

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The mist had dispersed a bit, but it's still a very gloomy-looking swamp. Luke pulled an equipment box from the shore to the clearing. He ignited a little fusion furnace and warmed his hands before it. Taking a power cable, he plugged it into Artoo's socket.

"Ready for some power? Okay. Let's see now. Put that in there. There you go," Luke said.

Artoo whistled a response and Luke took out a metal container and opened it revealing food rashins. He took a crisp meat stick out and took a bite before sighing.

"Now all I have to do is find this Yoda...if he even exists," he said and looked around before setting his meat stick down. "Still...there's something familiar about this place. I feel like...I don't know..."

"Feel what do you?" a mysterious voice asked.

Luke jumped and grabbed for both his blaster and lightsaber before turning around. There stood on a log a green two foot tall creature with large pointed ears dressed in rags and leaning on a stick.

"Like we're being watched," Luke said dangerously.

The creature covered his face with his hands. "Away with your weapons, I mean you no harm," it said.

Luke hesitated, but them clipped both his blaster and lightsaber onto his belt. The creature walked up to him leaning heavily on the stick.

"I am wondering, why you are here," it said.

"I'm looking for someone," Luke said.

"Looking? Found someone, you have, I would say, hmmm?" it said and then laughed.

Luke looked at the creature skeptically for a moment, "Right..." he said.

"Help you I can. Yes, mmmm," it said.

Luke laughed a bit, "I don't think so. I'm looking for a great warrior," he said.

"Ahhh! A great warrior," it said and shook his head laughing, "Wars not make one great." With the aid of a walking stick, the tiny creature moved over to one of the cases of supplies. He began to rummage around. Artoo moved to the edge of the case -- standing almost eye level to the creature who is carelessly handling the supplies -- and squeaked his disapproval. Their tiny visitor picked up the container of food Luke was eating from and took a bite.

"Put that down. Hey! That's my dinner!" Luke said chasing after it.

It spit out the food and made a face "How you get so big, eating food of this kind?" it said.

Luke came over and shut his food container. "Listen, friend, we didn't mean to land in that puddle, and if we could get our ship out, we would, but we can't, so why don't you just..." he said.

"Aww, cannot get your ship out?" it teased.

It spotted something of interest in Luke's case. Luke, loosing his patience, grabbed his case but it retained his prize which was a tiny lamp.

"Hey, you could have broken this. Don't do that. Ohhh...you're making a mess. Hey, give me that!" Luke said making a grab for the lamp but it back away clutching the lamp tightly.

"Mine! Or I will help you not," it said drawing close to Artoo who was sticking his claw arm out.

"I don't want your help. I want my lamp back. I'll need it to get out of this slimy mudhole," Luke said.

"Mudhole? Slimy? My home this is," it said defensively.

Artoo's claw arm grabbed the lamp and engaged it in a battle of tug and war over the lamp. It banging his stick against Artoo screaming "Mine! Mine!"

"Oh, Artoo, let him have it," Luke said giving in but Artoo remained in the tug of war with it. "Artoo!" Luke said in a warning tone and Artoo let go of the lamp.

It held the lamp closely and yelled, "Mine!"

"Now will you move along, little fella? We're got a lot of work to do," Luke said.

"No! No, no! Stay and help you, I will," it said and laughed, "Find your friend, hmm?"

"I'm not looking for a friend, I'm looking for a Jedi Master," Luke said.

"Oohhh. Jedi Master. Yoda. You seek Yoda," it said with wide eyes.

Luke looked at the creature sharply. "You know him?" he asked now looking at the creature with interest.

"Mmm. Take you to him, I will," it said and then laughed. "Yes, yes. But now, we must eat Come. Good food. Come."

Luke watched it scurry away into the fog, the lamp indicating where he was going. Luke shook his head and followed him.

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Han entered the hold and kneeled on the floor near the control box.

"Sir, I don't know where your ship learned to communicate, but it has the most peculiar dialect. I believe, sir, it says that the power coupling on the negative axis has been polarized. I'm afraid you'll have to replace it," Threepio said.

Han looked at Threepio feeling annoyance with the droid. "Well, of course I'll have to replace it," he said and picked up a coil of wire. He stood up and handed the wire to Chewie who was working near the ceiling. "Here! And Chewie..." he said and look briefly at Threepio and back to Chewie before speaking quietly, "I think we'd better replace the negative power coupling," he said.

----------------------------------

Leia finished welding the valves she has been working on and attempted to reengage the system by pulling a lever attached to the valve. It wouldn't budge. Han walked in and noticed her struggle. He moved to help him but she rebuffed his help.

Han moved back with his hands up, "Hey, Your Worship, I'm only trying to help," he said.

Leia continued to struggle with the valve. "Would you please stop calling me that," Leia asked with no hint of animosity in her voice.

Han noticed this. "Sure Leia," he said.

Leia sighed. "Oh, you make it so difficult sometimes," she said.

"I do, I really do. You could be a little nicer, though," Han said and watched her reaction for a moment, seeing that she has no negative reaction to that but silence he continued. "Come on, admit it. Sometimes you think I'm all right," he said.

Leia stopped her struggling and rubbed her sore hands. "Occasionally," she said and gave a small haltingly smile, "maybe...when you aren't acting like a scoundrel," she said.

"Scoundrel? Scoundrel? I like the sound of that," Han said and took her hand starting to massage it.

"Stop that," Leia said.

"Stop what?" Han asked with a smile.

Leia flushed a little. "Stop that! My hands are dirty," Leia told him.

Han leaned in closer. "My hands are dirty, too. What are you afraid of?" he said.

Leia looked into his eyes thinking that he had never looked more handsome than in that moment. "Afraid?" she asked confused.

Han took her other hand in his and noticed that she was trembling. "Your trembling," he told her.

"I'm not trembling," Leia told him defiantly.

Han drew her closer to him. "You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life," he told her.

"I happen to like nice men," Leia said in a husky whisper.

"I'm a nice man," Han told her.

"No, you're not. You're..." Leia didn't get to finish because Han then kissed her slowly but passionately. Leia melted into the kiss. She had never been kissed like this and she felt her legs begin to feel like jelly. Suddenly Threepio entered disrupting the scene before him.

"Sir, sir! I've isolated the reverse power flux coupling," Threepio said.

Han turned around at the droid in annoyance. "Thank you. Thank you very much."

"Oh, you're perfectly welcome, sir," Threepio said oblivious to Han's annoyance.

Leia took that opportunity to slip away. When Han turned back to her after Threepio left, she was gone.

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Anakin crash landed in much the same style as Luke on Dagobah right next to Luke's X-wing. Anakin popped open his X-wing getting wet from the rain.

"Well, looks like my hunch was right," he said seeing Luke's X-wing. "Now lets see what your up to Master," he added as he felt a familiar presence as he jumped into the swamp and made his way onto the land noticing Luke's little camp. But Luke was no where to be found. Reaching out with the force he tried to pinpoint Luke's location and if he were okay. He was fine. Anakin pulled his hood up and let the force guide him to where his son was.

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Luke sat cross legged in the creatures small little hut which structure was fit for it's size only. It scurried about in it's own little kitchen cooking up a meal and being a good host. Luke watched it impatiently.

"Look, I'm sure it's delicious. I just don't understand why we can't see Yoda now," Luke said impatiently.

"Patience! For the Jedi it is time to eat as well. Eat, eat. Hot. Good food, hm? Good, hmm?" it said.

Luke moved over to the stove with some difficulty due to his size and smallness to the hut. He dished himself out some of the unfamiliar concoction. He tasted it and was surprised at it's taste, it was actually quite good. He then added some spice to the food and began to eat.

"How far away is Yoda? Will it take us long to get there?" Luke asked.

"Not far. Yoda not far. Patience. Soon you will be with him," it said and tasted his own food. "Rootleaf, I cook. Why wish you become Jedi? Hm?" it said.

"Mostly because of my father, I guess," Luke said.

"Ah, your father. Powerful Jedi was he, powerful Jedi, mmm," it said.

Luke got a little angry and fed up. "Oh, come on. How could you know my father? You don't even know who I am," Luke then slammed down his bowl, "Oh, I don't even know what I'm doing here. We're wasting our time!" he said angrily.

It turned away from Luke and spoke to a third party. "I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience," it said.

Luke turned around sharply and saw now one there, but slowly it dawned on him that it was Yoda.

"He will learn patience," Obi-Wan's voice said.

"Hmmm. Much anger in him, like his father," Yoda said.

"Was I any different when you taught me?" Obi-Wan's voice said.

"Hah. He is not ready," Yoda said.

"Yoda! I am ready. I...Ben! I can be a Jedi. Ben, tell him I'm ready!" Luke said trying to stand up but hit his head on the ceiling.

Yoda turned to him, "Ready, are you? What know you of ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained! A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind," he said and turned to Obi-Wan, "This one a long time have I watched. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh! Excitement. Heh! A Jedi craves not these things!" he then turned back to Luke, "You are reckless! Much like your father," he said.

Luke looked down, he knew that Yoda was right.

"So was I, if you'll remember," Obi-Wan's voice said.

"He is too old. Yes, too old to begin the training," Yoda said in a softer tone than his previous one. He turned from Luke and sat down on a cot.

Luke detected this. "But I've learned so much," he said softly.

Yoda turned to him and sighed, he looked to a spot above Luke. "Will he finished what he begins?" he asked.

"I won't fail you -- I'm not afraid," Luke said.

Yoda slowly turned to him, "Oh, you will be. You will be," he said ominously.

They were interrupted with a bang followed by some cursing in huttiese followed by Anakin's voice. "For someone who had spent eight hundred years in a gigantic temple, one would think about becoming claustrophobic in this dugout!"


	8. The cave

Luke, surprised to hear his fathers voice went to stand up and banged his head on the ceiling. Again! He let out a slew of curses in huttiese as well as he rubbed his head.

Anakin slowly made his way into the hovel crawling on his hands and knees. He then pointed a finger at Luke irritation. "You! Luke Skywalker have the whole rebel alliance worrying about you! They believe that you've been captured by the empire including me for a while!" he said.

Luke winced. "I'll have to contact them soon then," he said and then looked at his father confused, "How did you know I was here?" he asked.

"You mutter when your unconscious," Anakin told him.

Yoda speedily approached Anakin and instantly began whacking him with his gimer stick.

"Oww! Master Yoda! I swear It wasn't me who did it THIS time!" Anakin yelled jumping each time the aged jedi master whacked him and hitting his head on the ceiling.

"The jedi order destroyed because of you!" Yoda said and whacked Anakin on the head this time.

"WHAT!" Anakin yelled, "OWW!!!! WILL YOU STOP WHACKING ME WITH THAT STICK?"

Yoda humphed as he stopped whacking Anakin. "The force has it's ways of guiding us. The jedi order, saved it can be, if you make the right decision!" he said and poked Anakin in the side with his gimer stick.

Anakin rubbed his side where Yoda had poked him rather hard. "Great! Just one more burden to be placed on my shoulders, it isn't enough that I have to destroy this sith due to some ancient prophecy but now I have this too!"

Yoda poked Anakin again, harder this time. "Destroy the sith, you did not! Now it rules the galaxy and has whipped out the jedi! Last of the jedi, I am! When get back to your time, you will know the consequences of your actions!" he said. "Always reckless! Always angry or arrogant you are! Destroyed you it did!" Yoda then hobbled back to his cot and sat down.

Luke who was watching the whole exchange looked at his father who was dumbstruck as well as rubbing his side. "Well now I know why Yoda was reluctant to teach me the way of the force," Luke said. And then smirked, "Looks like you weren't as popular as you thought," he added.

"Shut up!" Anakin said and got into a more comfortable position.

"Finish eating we will," Yoda declared and Anakin grinned as Luke handed him a bowl of what Yoda had made.

"Rootleaf stew!" Anakin said adding spice to his stew and the dug into it. He turned to Luke. "Yoda's the best cook, you know. Even surpasses my mother and that's not easy. Yoda can make mud taste delicious enough for kings!"

"Is that a complement or an insult?" Yoda said with a humph.

"It's a complement, Master," Anakin said.

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Threepio and Chewie watched as Han finished with some wiring. "Sir, if I may venture an opinion..." Threepio began.

"I'm not really interested in your opinion, Threepio," Han said. He was still annoyed with the droid for interrupting his kiss with Leia. Han had waited for that moment for three years only to have it ruined by The Skywalkers Protocol droid. Han knew that Luke held a crush on Leia and Anakin felt somewhat protectively of her for some unknown reason. Luke and Anakin were very good at mechanics and Anakin had said so himself that he had built Threepio at the age of nine for his mother. Maybe he had programmed the annoying droid to interrupt the moment? Nah, that was a bit far fetched.

Han was interrupted from his musing when Leia rushed into the room out of breath. " There's something out there," she said.

Han dropped the final floor panel in place over the pit and looked at her. "Where?" he asked.

"Outside in the cave," Leia told him. As she spoke there was a loud banging noise on the hull. Chewie looked up and barked anxiously.

"There it is. Listen! Listen!" Threepio cried throwing his arms up in the air.

"I'm going out there," Han said.

Leia looked at him incredulously. "Are you crazy!" she said.

"I just got this bucket of bolts back together. I'm not going to let something tear it apart," Han said determinedly as he and Chewie grabbed breathing masks heading out the door.

"Then I'm coming with you," Leia said following them.

"I think it might be better if I stay here and guard the ship," Threepio said and heard another noise, "Oh no!"

It was very dark inside the cave and hard to see. A slight damp mist filled the air around them and the ground felt strange, it was very squishy.

"This ground sure feels strange. It doesn't feel like rock at all," Leia said.

Han knelt down and examined the ground and the walls of the cave. "There's an awful lot of moisture in here," he said.

"I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this," Leia told him.

"Yeah," Han said agreeing with her.

Chewie barked through his mask and pointed at something on the ship. A five-foot-long shape could be seen moving across the top of the Falcon. The leathery creature let out a screech as Han blasted it with a laser bolt.

Han bent down to examine it. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Mynock. Chewie, check the rest on the ship, make sure there aren't any more attached. They're chewing on the power cables," he said.

"Mynocks?" Leia said.

"Go on inside. We'll clean them off if there are any more

Just then, a swarm of the ugly creatures swooped through the air. Leia put her arms over her head to protect herself as she ran toward the ship. Chewie shot another Mynock away with his blaster. Several of the batlike creatures flapped their wings loudly against the cockpit window of the Falcon. Inside, Threepio shuddered at their presence.

"Ohhh! Go away! Go away! Beastly thing. Shoo! Shoo!" Threepio said waving his arms over his head.

Han looked around the strange dripping cave as something downed on him. Asteroids didn't have any moisture in them. "Wait a minute," he said taking his blaster from his belt and shot the ground. Instantly the cave began to shake and shudder. Chewie barked as he ran into the Falcon followed closely buy Leia and Han covering their faces as the mynocks flopped past them. The ship continued to lurch as they boarded the ship while Han and Chewie ran to the cockpit followed closely by Leia.

"All right, Chewie, let's get out of here!" Han said.

"The Empire is still out there. I don't think it's wise to..." Leia began.

"No time to discuss this as a committee," Han said.

Leia felt her temper rising at that remark. "I am not a committee!" she yelled.

Han quickly strapped himself in the pilots chair and worked the controls next to Chewie. Leia was just strapping herself in as well as the Falcon sprinted to life. They watched as a row of jagged white stalagmites and stalactites were suddenly seen surrounding the entrance. The mouth of the cave seemed to be closing.

"We're doomed!" Threepio called

"The cave's collapsing!" Leia yelled.

"This is no cave," Han said.

Leia looked at him sharply. "What!" she yelled and then turned to the cave entrance. Her jaw dropped as she realized that the rocks of the cave entrance are not rocks at all, but giant teeth, quickly closing around the ship. Chewie howled and the Falcon just made it out when whatever it was closed it's mouth.

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Anakin sat cross legged on the ground trying to meditate. Master Yoda had instructed him to meditate while he trained Luke. Anakin rarely disobeyed Master Yoda. He respected Master Yoda more than any other jedi and sought his guidance whenever he felt that he needed it. But he wanted a hand in training Luke. He couldn't stand sitting here meditating! He never really did get the whole meditation thing. He never mastered it. As a jedi, he _should_ have it mastered. It was the way of the jedi, mindful, peaceful, in one with the force. Anakin itched for a battle. He itched to be _doing_ something. Anakin struggled to eradicate all thoughts from his mind and just listen to the force. Who was Darth Vader? He felt that he knew him. What wasn't the remaining jedi telling him? What happened to destroy the jedi? Why was it his fault? Was it his murder that made him fail to fulfill his destiny? Did his death start a chain reaction that destroyed the jedi? He had to find out who the sith lord was. That had to be the reason that he was here. Find out who the sith lord is and return to his time to destroy him before it was too late? If that was the case, then how _did_ he get here? How _dose_ he return to his own time? Maybe if he killed the sith lord in this time, he might return to his own time. Would he return to the very day to which he left? He itched to get back to Padme. Vader killed Padme. Anakin guessed that Vader had already killed him before he got to Padme. He guessed that Vader knew that Padme was pregnant with his child and in killing her, then he would be killing his child. Luke was the galaxy's only hope, the jedi's only hope. Vader knows this. That's why he wants Luke captured. To kill him. Make sure that the Skywalkers can't stop him. Anakin was sure of this.

"You're doing a very poor job at meditating, Anakin. Let go of your conscious self."

Anakin opened his eyes in shock to see Obi-Wan sitting on a rock in front of him. Knowing that Obi-Wan was dead made Anakin quickly scramble away from him. His eyes never leaving the ghostly figure as his skin grew pale.

"Why Anakin, you look like you've seen a ghost," Obi-Wan said raising an eyebrow.

"You're not real," Anakin told him. "I'm seeing things. You're not real."

Obi-Wan chuckled. "You know I'm real. You aren't the only one who have seen me, you know. How else could you explain Luke knowing where to Find Master Yoda? The only other person besides me who knew of his whereabouts was Bail Organa of Alderaan, whom you know was on Alderaan before it was destroyed. He wasn't force sensitive," he said.

Anakin shook his head. "Impossible. If you can appear then why haven't I seen Qui-Gon? Or any other jedi?" he said.

"Qui-Gon _did_ appear to you, Anakin. Didn't you hear him telling you not to slaughter the tuskan raiders?" Obi-Wan said.

"You know about that?!" Anakin asked alarmed. "Master, I regret doing it, but they deserved it, they were animals!"

"Were they Anakin? _Did_ they deserve it? Did the women and children deserve to be slaughtered?" Obi-Wan asked softly.

Anakin was taken aback by Obi-Wan's questioning. He knew that Obi-Wan wouldn't understand. How could he? It wasn't _his_ mother who was brutally beaten to death. "You didn't see what they did to my mother," Anakin told him.

"Anakin, don't you see? That day was the day that you lost your first piece of innocence, it led you to your destruction," Obi-Wan said sadly.

Anakin raised an eyebrow at him questionably. "How would that lead to a sith killing me?" he asked skeptically.

"That is something you will have to ask yourself," Obi-Wan told him.

"I know that there is something that you are not telling me. How did I die really? Who is Darth Vader? I feel as though I know him. Master I must know, if I am to destroy this sith," Anakin said.

"I cannot tell you that. It will only cause you pain," Obi-Wan told him sadly.

Anakin stood up frustrated and began to pace. "I'm in pain as it is! What is the truth going to hurt? It hurts more that you do not trust me enough to tell me the truth than not knowing it!" he said.

"All will be revealed in due time, you must have patience. Learn from what Yoda is trying to teach you," Obi-Wan said.

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With Yoda strapped to his back, Luke climbed up one of the many thick vines that grow in the swamp. Panting heavily, he continued his course -- climbing, flipping through the air, jumping over roots, and racing in and out of the heavy ground fog.

"Run! Yes. A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger...fear...aggression. The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice," Yoda said.

Luke stopped. "Vader. Is the dark side stronger?" he asked.

"No...no...no. Quicker, easier, more seductive," Yoda said.

"But how am I to know the good side from the bad?" Luke asked.

"You will know. When you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack," Yoda told him.

"But tell me why I can't..." Luke asked but Yoda interrupted him.

"No, no, there is no why. Nothing more will I teach you today. Clear your mind of questions. Mmm. Mmmmmm," Yoda said.

Artoo beeped in the distance as Luke let Yoda down to the ground. Breathing heavily, he took his cloak from a nearby tree branch and pulled it on. He turned to see a huge, dead, black tree, its base was surrounded by a few feet of water. Giant, twisted roots formed a dark and sinister cave on one side. Luke stared at the tree, trembling.

"There's something not right here," Luke said. "I feel cold, death,"

Yoda sat on a large root and poked his gimer stick in the ground. "That place...is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go," Yoda said.

"What's in there?" Luke asked.

"Only what you take with you," Yoda told him.

Luke looked warily between the tree and Yoda. He knew that he had to go in there. He had to face whatever was in there. He summoned his lightsaber and blaster from where they sat by the root which Yoda was sitting on for precaution's sake.

"Your weapons...you will not need them," Yoda said.

Luke looked closely at the tree and shook is head ignoring Yoda. At the moment Luke entered the cave Anakin walked up. Anakin looked from Luke to Yoda and back to Luke's retreating form knowing that part of Luke's training was to face the darkness within.

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Luke moved into the almost total darkness of the wet and slimy cave. He could barely make out the edge of the passage. Holding his lit saber before him, he saw a lizard crawl the branches of a tree. Luke drew a deep breath, then pushed deeper into the cave. The space widened around him, but he felt that rather than saw it. His lightsaber cast the only light as he peered into the darkness. It was very quiet. Then, a loud hiss was heard! Darth Vader appeared across the blackness, illuminated by his own just-ignited lightsaber. Immediately, he charged at Luke, saber held high. He is upon Luke in seconds, but Luke sidestepped perfectly and slashed at Vader with his lightsaber decapitating Vader. His helmet-encased head flew from his shoulders as his body disappeared into the darkness. The metallic bang of the helmet filled the cave as Vader's head spun and bounced, smashing on the floor, and finally stopped. For an instant it rest on the floor, then it cracked vertically. The black helmet and breath mask fell away to reveal...Luke's head! Across the space, the standing Luke gasped at the sight, wide-eyed in terror. The decapitated head faded away, as in a vision.

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Han piloted the Falcon out of the asteroid field closely followed by the star destroyer Executer. The ship shuddered as the star destroyer fired at them creating a huge explosion outside the cockpit window. Another explosion made the Falcon tilt some. Han righted the angle of the ship.

"Let's get out of here. Ready for light-speed? One...two...three!" Han said pulling back on the hyperspace throttle but nothing happens. "It's not fair!" he yelled frantically.

Chewie growled angrily throwing his arms in the air. Again Han pulled back on the hyperspace throttle but nothing happened.

"The transfer circuits are working. It's not my fault!" Han said.

"No lightspeed?" Leia asked as though expecting it.

"Sir, we just lost the main rear deflector shield. One more direct hit on the back quarter and we're done for," Threepio said.

Han paused for a moment and then made a decision. "Turn her around," he said. Chewie barked in puzzlement. "I said turn her around! I'm going to put all power in the front shield," Han said.

"Sir, the odds of surviving a direct assault on an Imperial Star Destroyer..." Threepio began.

"Shut up!" Leia yelled at the protocol droid.

Han and Chewie turned the Falcon around seemingly about to attack the massive star destroyer, bobbing and weaving to avoid the blast coming from the star destroyer. Han raced the falcon up over the star destroyer and hid behind a part of the ship seemingly to have disappeared out of site.

"Captain Solo, this time you have gone too far," Threepio said, Chewie growled at him, "No, I will not be quiet, Chewbacca. Why doesn't anyone listen to me?"

"The fleet is beginning to break up. Go back and stand by the manual release for the landing claw," Han said to Chewie. Chewie barked, struggled from his seat, and climbed out of the cabin.

"I really don't see how thats going to help. Surrender is a perfectly acceptable alternative in extreme circumstances. The Empire may be gracious enough..." Threepio never got to finish his sentence because Leia reached over and shut him off.

"Thank you," Han said relieved. He would have left Threepio behind at the base, but knew that Luke and Anakin wouldn't have taken too kindly to that.

"What did you have in mind for your next move?" Leia asked.

"Well, if they follow standard Imperial procedure, they'll dump their garbage before they go to light-speed, then we just float away," Han told her.

"With the rest of the garbage. Then what?" Leia asked him.

"Then we've got to find a safe port somewhere around here. Got any ideas?" Han said looked at Leia who shook her head.

"No. Where are we?" Leia asked.

"The Anoat system," Han answered.

"Anoat system. There's not much there," Leia told him.

Han checked his computer system. "No. Well, wait. This is interesting. Lando," Han said a smile coming onto his face as he pointed the computer mapscreen on the control panel. Leia slipped out of her chair and moved next to Han. She saw small light points representing several systems flash by on the computer screen.

"Lando system?" she asked.

"Lando's not a system, he's a man. Lando Calrissian. He's a card player, gambler, scoundrel. You'd like him," Han said.

"Thanks," Leia said sarcastically.

"Bespin. It's pretty far, but I think we can make it," Han told her.

"A mining colony?" Leia asked reading from the computer.

"Yeah, a Tibanna gas mine. Lando conned somebody out of it. We go back a long way, Lando and me," Han told her.

"Can you trust him?" Leia asked him.

"No. But he has no love for the Empire, I can tell you that," Han said. Just then Chewie barked over the intercom and Han checked his computer before looking out the window. "Here we go, Chewie. Stand by. Detach!" Han said.

Han leaned back into his chair and gave Leia an invisible smile. She thinks for a moment then shakes her head; a grin creeping across her face. She kissed Han's cheek.

"You do have your moments. Not many, but you have them," She told him as they floated away with the rest of the garbage. The star destroyers all left through hyperspace. The Falcon stayed for a moment before taking off, not knowing that they were being followed.

_Authors Note: Some of you wanted character development well I gave you some. Well we're getting closer and closer to the confrontation between Luke and Vader along with Anakin. I hope I can jump over your expectations._


	9. The ugly truth on Bespin

_Authors note: It has come to my attention that I have become a bit lax with this story making it look more like I was copying the script. I apologize for this and hope that this chapter makes up for it. Well the moment you all were waiting for is here, I hope I didn't disappoint..._

Luke fell over for the third time after trying to stand on his hands and lift rocks with his mind as Yoda instructed that he do. "This is impossible!" Luke cried.

Yoda and Anakin exchanged looks. "Impossible it is not," Yoda said tapping his gimer stick on the ground.

Anakin sighed. If Luke had been raised as a jedi he wouldn't be finding it so impossible. "Luke, it's easy. Look," Anakin said flipping upside down on his hands. He then balanced himself on one hand and lifted the rocks around him.

Luke looked at him in awe. Anakin set the rocks down and flipped back on his feet. "Easy for you, you've been doing it for years," Luke said.

Anakin sat down on the ground cross legged. "The reason why it's so difficult is because you're not using the force to help you. If you let the force flow through you, you'll do it," Anakin told him.

"Alright I'll try again," Luke said standing up.

"No, there is no try. Do or do not," Yoda said.

Luke nodded and took a deep breath calling forth the force to help him. He felt it flowing through him as he flipped up onto his hands. He stayed like that, he felt the strain of doing so. How did Anakin do this so easily? Luke called the force to keep his balance. It became even harder once Yoda perched himself on Luke's feet. Luke looked over at Anakin who stood by one of the threes leaning against it with his arms crossed over his chest watching him.

"Now lift the rocks using the force," Anakin said.

Luke turned his attention back over to the rocks which were the size of bowling balls and closed his eyes imagining the rocks lifting in the air.

"Use the Force. Yes..." Yoda said.

Luke imagined the rocks piling up on top of each other. He felt Yoda tap his leg and he removed one hand from the ground, he wavered for a moment but he called upon the force to help him keep his balance. He thought once more about the rocks and moved the pile of rocks back into their former spots. He was mid way through it when he was distracted by Artoo's frantic beeping as well as Arfor, Anakin's astromech droid. Luke looked over to where the droids were beeping and he lost his balance with Yoda yelling at him to concentrate.

Anakin was already out in the Swamp as the two X-wings fell deeper into the water. Luke walked over to stand next to his father. "Oh, no. We'll never get it out now," Luke said.

Anakin looked at him briefly, "What makes you think that?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Look at them, they're completely under water!" Luke said pointing to where the X-wings were once visible.

Yoda stomped his foot in irritation. "Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?" he said.

Luke looked over at Yoda, "Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different," he said.

Anakin shook his head at Luke. Yoda was getting irritated and Yoda wasn't the sort to get irritated. "No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned," Yoda said.

Luke looked over at Anakin and shrugged, "It's impossible isn't it?" he said.

Anakin Raised an eyebrow at him. "Is it?" he said, "Use the force to lift the X-wing out of the water like you did to move the rocks, it's that simple."

Luke shook his head. He then reached out towards the X-wings and concentrated on moving the X-wing. The nose bobbed to the surface for a moment before falling back into the water. Luke gave up panting heavily. "I can't, it's too big," he said sitting down on a root next to Yoda.

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hm? Mmmm," Yoda said. Luke shook his head. "And well you should not. For my ally in the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. It's energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we..." He then pinched Luke's shoulder. "...not this crude matter," he waved around in the air around him. "Here, between you...me...the tree...the rock...everywhere! Yes, even between this land and that ship!" he said.

Luke looked between Yoda and Anakin. "You want the impossible," he said.

"It's not impossible," Anakin said getting irritated. He then raised his right hand in the direction of the X-wings lifting his out of the water. Luke watched and saw his father's X-wing lift from the water slowly. He stood up and walked over to stand next to him. He noticed vary little strain on his father's face as he lifted the X-wing from the swampy water to solid ground.

Luke looked at the X-wing disbelievingly as he walked over it wiping off a swamp plant he then looked at Yoda and Anakin. "I don't...I don't believe it," he said.

"That is why you fail," Yoda told him. "Now you will lift your ship from the water."

Luke nodded and reached out his hand towards his X-wing with his right hand and concentrated on it, using the force. He strained to Lift the X-wing out of the water albeit slower that how Anakin had done. He strained even harder as he moved the X-wing onto solid ground next to the other X-wing.

"I did it!" he said and laughed.

"With the force, nothing is impossible," Anakin said.

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"No, I don't have a landing permit. I'm trying to reach Lando Calrissian," Han said into the transmitter as Bespin guards fly next to him ready for the attack. They shot laser blast at the Falcon.

"Whoa! Wait a minute! Let me explain," Han said into the transmitter.

"You will not deviate from your present course," a voice said from the intercom.

"Rather touchy aren't they," Threepio said.

Leia looked at Han incredulously. "I thought you knew this person!" she said.

Chewie growled at Han. "Well, that was a long time ago. I'm sure he's forgotten about that," Han said with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Permission granted to land on Platform Three-two-seven," the voice over the intercom said.

Han shook his head bringing his mind out of the past and into the present. He turned back to the transmitter. "Thank you," he said. He then turned to Leia. "There's nothing to worry about. We go way back, Lando and me," he said.

Leia is doubtful. "Who's worried?" she asked raising an eyebrow and turned to look out the cockpit window where the clouds were clearing. Bespin guards surrounding them as they flew towards Cloud City. It is clearly untouched by the Empire as it gleams in the clouds. The falcon lands on the landing plat form moments later. Moments later Han, Leia, Chewie and Threepio step off of the Falcons ramp. No one is there to great them.

"Oh. No one to meet us," Threepio said.

Leia made sure that her blaster was tightly by her side. She had a bad feeling about this. Someone should be here to greet them. "I don't like this," she said.

"Well what would you like?" Han said sharply.

Leia narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn't shake this forbidding feeling that she was having. She was about to tell Han that they needed to get the hell out of here while they still could. But something was stopping her. She felt as though they were walking in a trap and she wanted to get out of here, but another voice inside her head told her to spring the trap.

"Well, they did let us land," Threepio said.

Han turned back to Leia and gave her a reassuring smile. "Look, don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. Trust me," he said.

Leia did trust Han, but she just knew somehow that something wasn't right here. Before she could delve deeper into what made her feel this way the doors to the landing platform opened and she reached for her blaster. A dark skinned man came out onto the platform followed by his entourage.

"See? My friend," Han said to Leia and turned to Chewie. "Keep your eyes open, okay?" he said under his breath. Chewie growled in response as Han walked further onto the platform to greet his friend.

"Why, you slimy, double-crossing, no-good swindler! You've got a lot of guts coming here, after what you pulled," the dark skinned man said.

Han pointed to himself, "Me?" he said questionably.

The man, Lando, moved toward Han threateningly before pulling Han to a hug. "How you doing, you old pirate? So good to see you! I never thought I'd catch up with you again. Where you been?" Lando said laughing.

"Well he seems friendly," Threepio said.

"Yes...very friendly," Leia said wearily. She couldn't get this feeling to leave her that something wasn't right.

"What are you doing here?" Lando asked.

Han gestured to the Falcon. "Ahh...repairs. I thought you could help me out," Han said.

Lando's face hardened. "What have you done to my ship?" he demanded.

Han looked at him incredulously. "Your ship? Hey, remember, you lost her to me fair and square," Han said.

Chewie growled a reserved greeting to Lando and Lando's eye's fell on Leia who made sure that her blaster was at her side. "Hello. What have we here? Welcome. I'm Lando Calrissian. I'm the administrator of this facility. and who might you be?" Land said.

Leia stepped forward as Lando took her hand, "Leia," she said as he took her hand.

"Welcome Leia," Lando said bending over and kissing her hand.

Leia caught Han's eye over Lando's head and smiled inwardly at the look of jealously crossing over his face. "All right, all right, you old smoothie," Han said to Lando taking Leia's hand and steering her away from Lando. Leia felt grateful at Han's obvious sign of jealously.

Threepio walked up to Lando, "Hello, sir. I am See-Threepio, human-cyborg relations. My facilities are at your..." before Threepio could finish his sentence Lando turned away from him and back to Han. "Well really!" Threepio huffed.

"What's wrong with the Falcon?" Lando asked Han as he and his aide, Lobot, and Han lead the way across the bridge, followed by Threepio, Chewie and Leia.

"Hyperdrive," Han said

"I'll get my people to work on it," Lando said.

"Good," Han said.

Lando turned back to Leia, "You know, that ship saved my life quite a few times. She's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy," he said as they entered the city.

Leia had no response as she looked around in the city expecting something, she didn't know what, to turn around and catch them off guard. Her instincts told her to keep her hand near her blaster. They walked down lovely art deco passageways. But Leia wasn't too concerned with the decor of cloud city. Her senses were alert for any sign of danger.

"How's the gas mine? Is it paying off for you?" Han asked Lando.

"Oh, not as well as I'd like. We're a small outpost and not very self-sufficient. And I've had supply problems of every kind. I've had labor difficulties..." Lando caught Han grinning at him, "What's so funny?" he said.

"You. Listen to you -- you sound like a businessman, a responsible leader. Who'd have thought that, huh?" Han said.

Lando looked at Han reflectively. "You know, seeing you sure brings back a few things," he said.

Han put his hands on his hips and grinned. "Yeah?" he said.

"Yeah, I'm responsible these days. It's the price you pay for being successful," Lando said and he and Han laugh together as they continued through Cloud City.

Threepio lagged behind as usual and passed a silver plated Protocol droid. "Hello! It sure is nice to see a familiar face," Threepio said.

"E chu ta!" The droid said and walked away.

"How rude!" Threepio said and then heard a series of beeps. "That sounds like an R2 unit," he said and curiously walked into an antechamber. "Hello? How interesting. Oh, my," he said throwing his hands up.

"Who are you?" a commanding man's voice said.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I...I didn't mean to intrude. No, no, please don't get up. No!" Threepio said before a laser bolt hit him in the chest sending him in all different directions in smoldering pieces.

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Luke was once again standing on his hands in the clearing behind Yoda's hut. He isn't as strained as before and is in more tune with the force. Yoda and Anakin watch as he lifted some equipment boxes in their air around him. Artoo whistled and hummed in the background as he too rose in the air.

"Concentrate...feel the Force flow. Yes. Good. Calm, yes. Through the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future...the past. Old friends long gone," Yoda instructed Luke.

Anakin turned to Yoda. "He's coming around nicely," he said.

"hmmm, he should. Only hope for the jedi he is. Strong in the force he is," Yoda said.

Anakin turned back to Luke, "I guess it's a Skywalker gene," he said reflectively.

"Had you not broken the code, the jedi would have no hope, the sith would forever rule the galaxy," Yoda said reflectively looking at Luke. "Something the council should put into consideration when you return to your own time, hmmmmm."

Anakin turned to Yoda sharply. "You mean that?" he asked.

"Many things to be taken into consideration, many things in deed," Yoda said not looking at Anakin.

"Master Yoda, I want to apologize. I haven't been the jedi that I should have been. I've disregarded many things that I have been taught. I sought power," Anakin said.

"Power, a dangerous drug it is, especially for a jedi," Yoda said. "The sith seek power for themselves, no matter whom they hurt to get it."

Anakin took in that thought as though his mind had wanted to keep it tucked away for future reference. He looked over at Luke who was concentrating on the force. But then a look of terror crossed his face and Anakin felt it. A scream of pain, suffering.

"Han! Leia!" Luke cried loosing his concentration and toppling down on the ground along with everything else.

"Hmm. Control, control. You must learn control," Yoda said poking Luke with his gimer stick.

"Master Yoda, it cannot be helped with a force vision," Anakin said and helped Luke up. "What did you see?" he asked Luke.

"I saw...I saw a city in the clouds, Han and Leia, they were in pain, Vader was there," Luke said and Anakin stiffened.

"The future you see," Yoda said looking from both Skywalkers sadly.

"Will they die?" Luke asked.

Yoda closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future," he said.

Luke looked away from Yoda to Anakin who stood stiffly trying to keep the emotions from his face. Anakin looked Luke in the eyes. "Every time I have a vision, they always come true," he told him.

"I have to get to them," Luke said.

"Decide you must how to serve them best. If you leave now, help them you could. But you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered," Yoda said.

Luke stopped at Yoda's words gloom surrounded him as he nodded his head understanding.

"There's still time to get to them, it's not too late," Anakin said. "We can stop this vision from coming true," Anakin told him.

Luke nodded, "Right," he said.

"We have to hurry though, any moments hesitation could result in your vision coming true," Anakin told him.

Yoda poked his gimer stick in the ground, "Luke, you must complete your training!" he said, "Or else everything your friends fought for will be ruined," Yoda said.

"At what cost!" Anakin yelled, "Leia and Han are just as important to freeing the galaxy as Luke, we can't just let them suffer alone. Vader will kill them just for being close to Luke! We can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"You don't know that," the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi said before he materialized.

Luke's eyes widened, "Ben," he said.

"Even Yoda cannot see their fate," Obi-Wan said.

"But I can help them, I feel the force!" Luke protested.

"But you cannot control it. This is a dangerous time for you, when you will be tempted by the dark side of the Force," Obi-Wan said.

"Luke won't be tempted to the dark side!" Anakin said angrily. "He has me, I'm going with him!"

"To Obi-Wan you listen. The cave. Remember your failure at the cave!" Yoda said to Luke ignoring Anakin's outburst.

"But I've learned so much since then. Master Yoda, I promise to return and finish what I've begun. You have my word," Luke said turning to Yoda.

"And you have my word, we _will_ return. I'll make sure that Luke finishes his training," Anakin said.

"We don't doubt your word," Obi-Wan said. "We know what Vader wants. He wants Luke's abilities, he wants to lure him to the ways of the sith."

"I will never join Vader!" Luke said vehemently. "I must go, I must help them," he said looking from Yoda to Obi-Wan.

"And we will go, whether we have the jedi's permission to go or not. Han and Leia wont suffer for long," Anakin said placing a hand on Luke's shoulder and glared at the jedi masters.

"If you end your training now, if you choose the quick and easy path, as Vader did, you will become an agent of evil," Yoda said.

"You both must have patience and trust in the force," Obi-Wan said.

"And sacrifice Han and Leia, Never!" Luke said and Anakin was reminded of how much Luke was like him at this moment.

"Come on, time is of the essence," Anakin said to Luke who had began to load his X-wing. Anakin turned to the jedi masters. "I won't let you stop Luke from saving them like you stopped me from saving my mother," he said.

"Anakin, you don't understand what we've been trying to do here, if Vader gets his hands on Luke, he will destroy him," Obi-Wan said.

"Oh I understand plenty Obi-Wan. One way or another I will find out what you have been keeping from me even if it means confronting Vader and destroying him!" Anakin said.

"If you choose to face Vader, you will do it alone. I cannot interfere," Obi-wan said to both Anakin and Luke.

"I understand," Luke said as Artoo and Arfor lowered themselves into their perspective X-wings.

"Don't give in to hate -- that leads to the dark side," Yoda warned as Luke climbed up into his X-wing. Anakin jumped into his X-wing as Yoda gave his final warning.

"Strong is Vader. Mind what you have learned. Save you it can," Yoda said.

"I will. And I'll return. I promise," Luke said.

"Do you know where exactly this city in the clouds is?" Anakin asked Luke.

"Not really," Luke said.

Anakin nodded, "The force will guide us, focus on Han and Leia," he said and closed up his X-wing.

Obi-Wan and Yoda watched as the two X-wings soared up to the sky. "If he doesn't make it back, we still have his sister," Obi-Wan said.

"Harder it will be for her than with Luke, need him we still will," Yoda said.

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Leia paced in the quarters assigned to her and Han in Cloud City. She knew that something wasn't right here. She could feel it. Something dark filled this city with it's presence. She didn't know how she knew this. She could just feel it creeping up to her and smothering her. It was familiar. Too familiar. She felt as though she knew this presence. Somewhere in the deep recess of her being she familiarized with it but her memory told her that it's familiarly wasn't as dark when she first felt it as it was now. Why would she feel as though she knew this presence? She didn't know anyone with such darkness. She hadn't felt this darkness in some time. And Threepio went missing, threepio never goes missing! That droid sticks to people like glue. She was brought out of her musings when Han entered the room.

"The ship is almost finished. Two or Three more things and we're in great shape," Han said.

Leia turned to him. "The sooner the better. Something's wrong here. No one has seen or knows anything about Threepio. He's been gone too long to have gotten lost," she said.

Han took her by the shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Relax. I'll talk to Lando and see what I can find out," he told her.

"I don't trust Lando," Leia told him. Something in her told her not to trust his hospitality. She just knew it.

"Well, I don't trust him, either. But he is my friend. Besides, we'll soon be gone," Han told her. Leia felt no reassurance from his words.

"And then you're as good as gone, aren't you?" Leia asked gloomily. Han looked at her troubled face and didn't say anything. He just wrapped his arms around her. Leia took comfort in his embrace. It was warm and protective. She let go of her conflicted emotions and gave in to what she felt. She could no longer deny it. She loved Han Solo.

At that moment the door zapped open and Chewie came in carrying a packing case with the taken apart Threepio in it. Leia broke away from Han and walked over to where Chewie set down the packing case. "What Happened?" she asked.

Chewie grunted and growled. "Where? Found him in a junk pile?" Han asked inspecting the mess.

Leia looked down on the droid parts that was Threepio forlornly. "Chewie can you fix him?" she asked.

Chewie examined the droid parts and shrugged sadly at Leia. At that moment the door chime buzzed and Lando walked in.

"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting anything?" Lando asked. Leia wasn't all that pleased to see Lando at all.

"Not really," she said.

Lando looked down at the broken Threepio. "Something wrong with your droid? I've got people who can take care of it," he said.

"No thanks," Leia said and Lando's eyes roamed over her making her feel cold.

"You look absolutely beautiful. You truly belong here with us among the clouds," Lando said.

"Thank You," Leia said coolly. She didn't know why this man rubbed her the wrong way. She just had a feeling that he would betray them.

"Will you join me for a little refreshment?" Lando asked. Han looked at him suspiciously and Leia couldn't help but share his suspicion but Chewie barked at the mention of food. "Everyone's invited, of course," Lando added as an after thought. Han shrugged and Lando offered Leia his arm but Leia wrapped an arm around Han's as they left to the dining hall.

A little while away Lando was talking about his business. "So you see, since we're a small operation, we don't fall into the...uh...jurisdiction of the Empire," he said.

"You're part of the mining guild then?" Leia asked. Trying to sound interested. But she couldn't really focus on what he was saying. That dark presence grew stronger.

"No, not actually. Our operation is small enough not to be noticed...which is advantageous for everybody since our customers are anxious to avoid attracting attention to themselves," Lando said and they neared a door at the end of the corridor.

"Aren't you afraid the Empire's going to find out about this little operation and shut you down?" Han asked. Leia was wondering the same thing.

"That's always been a danger looming like a shadow over everything we've built here. But things have developed that will insure security. I've just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here forever," Lando said.

Leia felt her blood run cold at the implications of those words. Before she could do anything or say anything the door slid open and there at the end of the table in the dining room sat Darth Vader. Han saw this and instantly pulled out his blaster shooting at the dark lord. Vader defected Han's blasts and summoned Han's blaster away from him.

Lando looked at them sadly. "I had no choice. They arrived right before you did. I'm sorry," he said.

Han looked at Lando coldly. "I'm sorry too," he said.

"We would be honored if you would join us," Vader said. It was then that Leia noticed the bounty hunter in the room as she Han and Chewie were shoved into the room and into seats at the table. "Leave us," Vader ordered Lando and the bounty hunter.

"I'm staying to make sure my prize stays alive, Solo is worth a lot to me," the bounty hunter said.

"You will get your prize all in due time Fett, now leave," Vader said. The bounty hunter bowed and left the room. Vader turned to Leia, Han and Chewie and Leia knew that they were done for. "Now You are wondering what I am going to do with you. You will soon know once I have Luke Skywalker in my custody," he said darkly. Leia shared a freighting look with Han. Vader motioned for a storm trooper to come forward. "You will take Solo and show him a bit of our hospitality," Vader ordered menacingly. The storm trooper dragged Han out of the room with Han hollering at Vader that he wouldn't get away with this, leaving a frightened Leia and Chewie behind. "As for you Princess, you will tell me everything I wish to know about Skywalker," he said.

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They placed Chewie in his own cell where a loud whisting sound drove the wookiee mad making him bang his huge furry paws against the walls. The whistling stopped and Chewie looked over at the discarded droid parts that were Threepio. Resigning himself to his fate, he sat down and began to try to fix the droid, attaching the head to the torso backwards activating the droid.

"Mmmm. Oh, my. Uh, I, uh -- Take this off! I, uh, don't mean to intrude here. I, don't, no, no, no...Please don't get up. No!" Threepio said in a fast backwards voice and then looked around. "Stormtroopers? Here? We're in danger. I must tell the others. Oh, no! I've been shot!"

Chewie scratched his head and adjusted a few wires. Throughout the prison block Han's loud screams were heard as he was tortured. Chewie despite his distress for his friend, knowing that there was nothing that he could do, continued to work on the droid. He had managed to put more of him back together.

"Oh, yes, that's very good. I like that. Oh! Something's not right because now I can't see. Wait. Wait! Oh, my! what have you done? I'm backwards, you stupid furball. Only an overgrown mophead like you would be stupid enough..." threepio was cut off mid sentence as Chewie deactivated the droid.

Moments later Han was dragged through the door and into the cell. As soon as he was let go, he fell to the floor of the cell. Chewie rushed over to his friend and helped him up howling. "I feel terrible," Han said. Chewie helped Han up and hugged his friend. The door opened again and Leia was shoved inside, she too was worse for the wear. She rushed over to Han and wrapped her arms around him.

"They never even asked me questions," Han said.

"He wants Luke," Leia said fearful.

The door opened and Lando entered with two guards. "Get out of here, Lando!" Han said angrily.

"Shut up and listen! Vader has agreed to turn Leia and Chewie over to me. "They'll be safe but they can never leave this city again," Lando said. "He's turning You over to the bounty hunter," He said to Han.

"Perfect, some friend you are!" Han spit out. And punched Lando in the face. Chewie grabbed hold of Lando and tried to choke him.

"Vader wants us dead, don't you see that!" Leia yelled.

"He's not after you, he's after Skywalker and you're the bait!" Lando said.

"We know that!" Leia said. She was getting colder and colder by the minute.

"Stop! I've done all I can do. I'm sorry I couldn't do better, but I have my own problems," Lando said freeing himself from the wookiee.

"Yeah you're a real hero," Han spat as Lando left.

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In the carbon freezing chamber Vader examined the chamber with appreciation. Yes this will be perfect to capture Skywalker with. "This facility is crude, but it should be adequate to freeze Skywalker for his journey to the Emperor," he said.

An Imperial solder approached him. "Lord Vader Two ships are coming in, x-wing class," he said.

"Good. Monitor Skywalker and allow him to land," Vader told him. The solder bowed and left. So Skywalker brought a friend with him. His friend should be easy to disable soon enough. Soon Skywalker will be his as it should have been years ago.

"Lord Vader, we only use this facility for carbon freezing. If you put him in there, it might kill him," Lando Calrissian said. Vader was getting tired of his undermining and authoritative tone. He should be taught who is really in charge.

"I do not want the Emperor's prize damaged. We will test it...on Captain Solo," Vader said and was satisfied with the look of horror in Calrissian's eyes. Yes this will work out perfectly.

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Soon enough The prisoners were brought before Vader in the carbon freezing chamber. The bounty hunter was observing the work of the Ugnaughts as they prepared the chamber. The wookiee had a partially assembled droid on his back in a sack which was trying desperately to see what was going on.

Vader listened as the droid complained. "If only you had attached my legs, I wouldn't be in this ridiculous position. Now, remember, Chewbacca, you have a responsibility to me, so don't do anything foolish," it said and Vader thought it annoying how the droid prattled on when droids weren't meant to have human quality's. People who programed droids to behave like humans were very annoying people indeed. Vader heard Solo and Calrissian discuss Solo's fate. The princess looked at the carbon freezing chamber fearfully at Calrissian's proclamation that Solo was to be frozen. The bounty hunter moved toward Vader.

"What if he doesn't survive? He's worth a lot to me," the bounty hunter said. Vader had enough of this bounty scum and wanted to be rid of him soon.

"The Empire will compensate you if he dies. Put him in!" he said and gave his order.

Vader watched with mild satisfaction as the wookiee became disgruntled as Solo was shoved towards the carbon freezing chamber. Solo moved to the wookiee.

"Stop, Chewie, stop! Do you hear me? Stop!Chewie! Chewie, this won't help me. Hey! Save your strength. There'll be another time. The princess -- you have to take care of her. You hear me?" Solo said.

The wookiee stopped much to Vader's dissatisfaction and howled. He felt the Wookiee's distress was rather humorous. The princess looked up at Han fearfully. Vader motioned for the guards to proceed. Solo resisted and he and the princess kissed desperately before they were pulled apart. Vader watched remembering a time long ago when two lovers like this were torn apart due to war. Frowning at the memory he ordered for the process to proceed without incident. Solo was placed in the carbon freezing chamber and lowered. The princess stepped forward and the two lovers professed their love for each other before Solo was frozen. Not long after solo's frozen body was pulled out and dropped to the floor. Calrissian checked him.

"Well Calrissian is he alive?" Vader snapped when Calrissian took too long.

Calrissian looked up to him grimly. "Yes, he's alive. And in perfect hibernation," he said.

Vader turned to the bounty hunter. "He's all yours," he said and then turned to his officers. "Reset the chamber for Skywalker!" he ordered.

Another Imperial officer came up to him. "Skywalker just landed my lord," he said.

Good, now he will finally have his prize. "Good. See to it that he finds his way here. Calrissian, take the princess and the wookiee to my ship," Vader ordered.

Calrissian walked up to Vader incredulously. "You said they'd be left in the city under my supervision," he said.

Vader turned to him getting really annoyed. "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further," he said threateningly. Calrissian didn't object any further instead he left the carbon freezing chamber. Soon after her left Vader dismissed his officers and waited for Skywalker to come to him.

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Anakin and Luke entered Cloud City and pulled their hoods up over their heads. "I smell a trap," Anakin said.

Luke turned to Anakin sharply. "Then what do we do?" he asked. He sensed the trap too.

Anakin grinned and Luke knew that grin meant that he was ready for battle. "We spring the trap," he said gripping his lightsaber in his right gloved hand. Luke took his lightsaber off of his belt and gripped it in his hand. As soon as they entered Cloud city a legion of storm troopers came at them.

"Halt," the leader said aiming his blaster at Anakin while the others approached Luke.

"You chose the wrong person to mess with," Anakin said igniting lightsaber and plunged his blade into the center of the storm trooper's chest. The storm trooper fell to the floor dead.

"Blast him," another storm trooper said but before they could do anything else, Anakin made work of wounding and killing the storm troopers.

"You sure know how to spring a trap," Luke commented as they stepped over the storm troopers bodies.

"Comes from being in a few different battles. I normally choose to make a big entrance, it drove Obi-Wan and the other jedi nuts. They always thought that I like to draw attention to myself," Anakin said as they made it further into the city not knowing that Artoo and Arfor were following them. More storm troopers came after him and fired their blasters at them. Anakin and Luke deflected their shots with their lightsabers with Anakin in the lead. "I sense Vader," Anakin said.

"I sense him too," Luke said deflecting more laser fire as Anakin sliced off more storm troopers arms. Luke reached out with the force and pulled several blaster from storm troopers hands and sending them further down the hall. Acting on instinct he force pushed several storm troopers hard against the walls knocking them unconscious. Anakin plunged his blade into another storm trooper's chest from behind him leaving their way clear to go further into the city.

"Come on," Anakin said stepping over the bodies closely followed by Luke. They made it further into the city and spotted Boba Fett escorted by a few guards pushing the carbon frozen Han down a side hallway. Artoo and Arfor let out a series of beeps and whistle making the two Skywalkers to glare at the droids. Boba Fett spotted them and sent a laser bolt at them but Anakin deflected it and it hit and charred a wall opposite of them. They rushed down to where the guards and bounty hunter left down another hallway but they had disappeared behind a locked door.

"Lets go, The others need our help," Anakin said and pulled Luke down another hallway where they spotted Leia and Chewie being lead down another hallway by a dark skinned man and a few guards. Anakin noticed the dark skinned man secretly punch in a code onto his wrist. Leia spotted them.

"Luke! Anakin! It's a trap! Don't it's a Trap!" Leia shouted at them but before either Luke or Anakin could help them She was pulled through a doorway. Luke and Anakin raced after her while Artoo and Arfor went in a different direction seeming to know where they were going. Anakin and Luke entered an anteroom, Leia and the others where nowhere to be seen. Suddenly all the doors closed surrounding them echoing throughout the chamber.

"Well what now?" Luke asked looking around.

Anakin looked around the room, it was completely bare. "We wait," he said. No sooner had he uttered those word a doorway opened up leading into a dark hallway. "See," Anakin said moving into the hallway. Luke followed.

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The storm troopers escorted Leia, Lando and Chewie with Threepio on his back down a hall way when suddenly Lando's aid Lobot and several of his guards surrounded the storm troopers with weapons. The storm troopers were outnumbered. Lando took the storm trooper's blasters and handed them to Leia and Chewie.

"Well done. Hold them in the security tower -- and keep it quiet. Move," Lando instructed. Leia didn't know whether to thank Lando or strangle him as he unbound Chewie.

"What do you think you're doing?" Leia demanded hotly.

"We're getting out of here," Lando said. Leia couldn't believe him. Did he think she would go anywhere with him?

"I knew all along it had to be a mistake," Threepio said.

As soon as Chewie was unbound the big wookiee grabbed Lando's throat. "Do you think that after what you did to Han we're going to trust you?" Leia shouted angrily.

"I had no choice," Lando said trying to free himself from Chewie's grasp. Leia didn't tell Chewie to stop. In her opinion Lando was getting what he deserved.

"What are you doing? Trust him, trust him!" Threepio said but Leia and Chewie ignored him.

"Oh, so we understand, don't we, Chewie? He had no choice," Leia said sarcastically.

"I'm just trying to help..." Lando said still struggling with Chewie.

"We don't want your help!" Leia yelled at him, she couldn't wait to be rid of him. Lando said something that Leia couldn't understand because Chewie was choking him. "What?" she demanded.

"It sounds like Han," Threepio said.

"There's still time to save Han, at the East Platform..." Lando struggled to say. He wanted to save Han, Leia hated to admit it but they might still need him.

"Chewie, release him," Leia ordered Chewie who released Lando. Lando grabbed his throat and breathed in deeply. "Where's the platform?" she asked. Lando regained his composure and motioned for them to follow him.

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Anakin and Luke cautiously moved amongst the hissing pipes, ignited lightsabers at the ready. They each stepped onto a platform which began to rise bringing them into another room. Vary little steam filled the room, there seemed to be no one in there, until the room filled with steam and then cleared. A dark figure stood on the stairs. Instantly Anakin felt himself being pushed roughly into the wall, his lightsaber clattered to somewhere to the side.

"The Force is with you, young Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi yet," Vader said igniting his crimson lightsaber.

Luke jumped forward and made a striking move at Vader but Vader blocked his blow and sent one at Luke who blocked him. Anakin looked up from where he was thrown into the wall to see Luke and Vader dueling with Vader getting the upper hand. He summoned his lightsaber, charged at Vader and jumped into the duel. The three of them fiercely dueled. Anakin giving Vader a run for his money. Suddenly Vader pushed Luke down a few steps leaving Anakin and Vader to duel alone. Vader once again force pushed Anakin down the stairs next to Luke. Both Skywalkers jumped up and Vader pushed Luke further away and into an opening, the same opening that froze Han. But Luke jumped up out of the opening in time before he too can be carbon frozen.

Anakin again dueled Vader. "Get out of the way boy, I have no use for you," Vader said and force pushed Anakin again who rolled away as Vader descended the stairs. Vader approached Luke who was now on his feet. Vader and Luke dueled each other again. "Your destiny lies with me, Skywalker. Obi-Wan knew this to be true," Vader said.

Suddenly Anakin popped up behind Vader and moved to strike the dark lord. But Vader turned around and blocked his blow. "You just don't quit do you," Vader said.

"Not as long as I live," Anakin said as he and Vader dueled. By now they had moved out of the carbon freezing chamber and into another dark tunnel. Luke charged at Vader making the dark lord duel both Skywalkers at the same time again. Vader pulled a piece of machinery off of the walls to tried and hit Anakin so that he could be rid of him. But Anakin used to force to throw it in another direction, unfortunately it flew into a window. A fierce wind blew from the break sucking things outward including Anakin and Luke who was closest to the window. Vader held onto machinery hanging on the walls until the wind died down. Anakin jumped up on his feet and charged at Vader but Vader anticipated it and force choked Anakin and threw him out the window. Anakin hit the ledge outside the window pretty hard before falling over he groaned as his right arm caught the edge of the ledge. Luke charged at Vader and Vader blocked his blows.

"Obi-Wan has taught you well. You have controlled your fear... now release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy me," Vader goaded.

Luke remembered what Yoda had said about anger and hatred and checked it in as he went to strike at Vader. Vader backed Luke against the window and disarmed him by cutting off his right hand. Luke screamed from the pain as his hand still holing the lightsaber few out the window and past Anakin. With his free hand Luke grabbed the stump where his hand had once been and backed out to the ledge to get away from Vader.

"There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover you power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy," Vader said.

Anakin slowly regained his composure listening into Vader's goading. Silently telling Luke through their bond not to listen to Vader.

Luke Looked at Vader defiantly. "I'll never join you!" he yelled. Anakin praised Luke through their bond. But Vader wasn't finished.

"If you only knew the power of the dark side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father," Vader said.

Anakin knew now that Vader was going to reveal how he had killed him. Anakin didn't kid himself, he wanted to know how Vader had killed him, how a sith could murder him! And how he killed Padme.

"He told me enough! He told me you killed him!" Luke said vehemently. Anakin knew what Vader was doing, Vader was trying to make Luke angry enough to join him. Anakin closed his eyes trying to keep calm hoping that Luke would have better luck at it.

"No. I am your father," Vader said. Anakin's eyes shot open at that. No. he was lying. No, no, no, no. He wasn't Vader, he hadn't turned into a sith. No!

"No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!" Luke screamed. Luke's disbelief gave Anakin strength and he focused on the force to pull himself up.

"Search your feelings. You know it to be true," Vader goaded.

Before Anyone could do anything, Anakin pulled himself up, "LIER!" he shouted flipping through the air and landing on his feet. He summoned his lightsaber, ignited it and charged at Vader with more strength that he had ever thought he hand. Vader was taken by surprise and Anakin used it to his advantage as he backed Vader away from Luke. Vader did his best to fight Anakin as Anakin gave him his full power.

"This is for Padme!" Anakin shouted striking Vader at the shoulder burning him. Vader blocked his next blow but Anakin went on. "This is for Luke!" Anakin said sending another blow to Vader this time Vader blocked him. "And this is for me and everyone else you destroyed! Anakin yelled cutting off Vader's right hand disarming him. Vader yelled as Anakin brought his blade to Vader's throat.

Vader laughed at him. "You cannot destroy me," he said.

"Give me one good reason not to," Anakin said threateningly.

Again Vader laughed. "You cannot destroy yourself," he said simply. Anakin narrowed his eyes as Vader held up his severed hand. It was full of metal and wires. Anakin looked at the wiring hard and his eyes went wide as a realization came to him. No! It can't be. The wiring was his, he had built that arm. Vader was telling the truth. With his lightsaber still pointing at Vader, Anakin backed away getting closer to Luke who was now on his feet.

"Father?" Luke asked quietly.

Without turning to Luke he grabbed Luke's arm. "We need to get out of here. Now!" he said. He and Luke left Vader behind as they raced through the dark tunnel and reached the white corridors of the city. Without looking back they ran through the city and nearly knocked Leia and her companion down but Chewie grabbed them in time.

"You're alright!" Leia said hugging both Luke and Anakin.

I hate to break this up, but we need to get to the east platform if we're to save Han before that bounty hunter gets away," the dark skinned man said.

Anakin nodded, "You better hurry the. Where's the Falcon? Luke needs to be bandaged up," he said.

"Why? What happened?" Leia asked concerned.

"Vader," Anakin said simply not wanting to go into further detail.

"The Falcon's at Platform three-two-seven," Lando said.

"You guys get Han, We'll meet you at the Falcon," Anakin said and pulled Luke towards where Lando directed them.

They ran down a few hallways and when the reached Platform Three-Two-Seven, they found a group of storm troopers guarding it. Anakin quickly disposed of the storm troopers before they knew what hit them and Dragged Luke out onto the platform and to the Falcon. As they were boarding the ramp, Artoo and Arfor came out onto the platform after them giving a series of beeps and whistles. Anakin ushered Luke into the crew quarters.

"Lay down," Anakin ordered him as he pulled out a basic first aid kit.

Luke sat down on the cot and pulled his cloak off as best as he could with one hand. "How well do you know what you're doing?" he asked.

"I've had the first half of my arm cut off by a sith, I know what I'm doing," Anakin told him and quickly bandaged up Luke's stump. "That'll stop the blood from getting through. Now lay down here and stay here, I'm going to make sure that every thing's ready to go. Knowing the Empire they've probably disabled the hyperdrive and put a tracking devise on here. I'm going to fix that," Anakin told him before dashing out of the crew's quarters.

Anakin spotted Artoo and Arfor on bored. "Artoo fix the hyperdrive. Arfor find where that tracking devise is hidden," he ordered. Artoo plugged himself into a socket in the ship's hold and made a series of turns with it while beeping. Arfor did a complete scan of the ship and beeped excitedly. Arfor gave Anakin a map of where the tracking devise was. It was in the maintenance pit in the main hold. "Thanks Arfor," Anakin said and quickly made it to the maintenance pit. He used the force to pull the grates up and grabbed Han's tools before lowering himself into the pit. He quickly located the tracking devise and went to work on it just as he heard the footsteps of Leia, Lando and Chewie on the ramp.

"Luke! Anakin!" Leia called.

"Luke's in the crew's quarters, Leia!" Anakin yelled as he worked on disabling the tracking devise. He heard Leia rush to where Luke was and heard Lando above him.

"What are you doing?" Lando asked, "My men already worked on the ship."

Anakin didn't look up at him. "I'm disabling the tracking devise," Anakin said just as he finished. "Got it!" he lifted himself out of the pit and turned to Lando. "Where's Han?" he demanded.

"We were too late to get to him, the bounty hunter Boba Fett took off with him," Lando said.

Anakin cursed in huttiese. "Put those greats back in place, I'm going to get us out of here!" he ordered as he ran to the cockpit. Lando quickly followed him.

"Now wait just a minute! I'm flying this ship! It belonged to me before it belonged to Han!" Lando said.

Anakin stopped and pointed a finger in Lando's face. "I'm getting us out of here and you're going to follow my orders. Got it!" he said.

"Who do you think you are?" Lando demanded.

Anakin turned away from him and marched into the cockpit. "Anakin Skywalker, jedi knight and hero without fear, at your service!" he said strapping himself into the pilots seat.

"What?! That's impossible, Anakin Skywalker died twenty three years ago in the jedi purges!" Lando yelled.

"Well I decided that I didn't want to stay dead!" Anakin said working the controls and taking off.

"I'm going to need a drink," Lando said.

"Not as long as you're my co-pilot," Anakin said. "By the way, don't tell anybody who I am or I'll have to get rid of you," he added.

"Right," Lando said strapping himself in Chewie's seat.

The ship rocked and bobbed as Anakin pushed it to it's limits to get away from Cloud City. They left Bespin's orbit and were meat by a star destroyer. The Executer fired at them and Anakin could feel Vader reach out to Luke. Anakin sped up the Falcon and dodged the laser blasts coming from the star destroyer and the TIE fighters. "Hold on everyone, I'm making the jump to lightspeed!" Anakin said into the ships intercom. Anakin pulled back on the hyperspace throttle and instantly the stars became streaks as the Falcon raced into lightspeed.

"You're a better pilot than Han," Lando said astonished to see someone best Han solo.

"I've been flying since I was five, I raced and won the Boonta Eve Classic when I was nine," Anakin said getting up from his seat to check on Luke. Leia was there tending to Luke who was asleep. "We'll be back with the rebellion in no time, I've got the hyperdrive working extra hard," he said.

"How long will that be?" Leia asked.

Anakin sat down on the cot across from Luke. "In an hour, normally it would take us three, but like I said, I'm pushing this bucket of bolts to it's limit," he said.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Leia asked concerned. The look she gave him reminded him so much of Padme.

Anakin smirked at her. "I'm the best pilot in the galaxy, I've raced a broken down pod racer when I was eight to nine years old. We'll make it, so long as I'm the pilot," he told her. He then nodded at Luke. "How's he doing?" he asked.

"He'll make it," Leia told him. She looked down at Luke tenderly, but her eyes told him of the pain she was in without Han.

"You love Han don't you?" Anakin asked her. She looked at him startled and he went on. "I can tell. Although you have a hard time admitting it. Sort of like my wife, Padme. She had a hard time admitting that she loved me at the beginning, but in the end, we got married, just as I knew we would," he said.

"You sure have a lot of insight for a man," Leia told him making Anakin chuckle.

"Only when it comes to love and war, other times I'm as clueless as any other man," he said. Leia smiled making Anakin smile out of satisfaction. "See I knew I could make you smile," he said.

Leia looked down at Luke's stub and frowned again. "I can't believe you guys made it out of Vader's grasp alive," she said.

"Vader didn't get off as easily as he always does, I did to him what he did to Luke," Anakin told her tightly, not wanting to talk about Vader. "I better get back to the cockpit. I'll let you know when we reach the rebellion," he said standing up and leaving. Leia looked bewildering at him as he left.

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Anakin stood by as the medi-droids finished with Luke's new hand. Leia stood with him. He could sense her wanting to know what Vader wanted with them and why he didn't kill them. But his mind was on a different line. If what Vader said was true then why did he do it? How could he have turned to the dark side? How could he have killed the one person who mattered the most to him? How could he have turned his back on the jedi? What happened to him? How did he turn from fighting to destroy the sith to joining them? Not wanting to dwell on this now, Anakin pushed himself away from the wall and shoved the medi-droid away and made some personal adjustments to the wiring in Luke's hand.

"Medical technology sure has improved in the last twenty three years," he whispered to Luke. "When I lost my arm, I had to make my own new arm using my remaining hand and the force to guide me," he said and pricked Luke's new fingers.

"Ow," Luke said with his mechanical hand flexing.

Anakin smiled. "At least you have some feeling," he said and held up his right hand. He pulled his black glove off revealing his mechanical arm. "It's not much to look at, but it works," he said.

Luke took Anakin's right arm in his left one and examined the wiring. "It's hard to believe you made this yourself," he said.

"I wanted my own special adjustments that the scrap pieces the medical centers had didn't have. People who had those only had limited functions," Anakin told him.

By now Leia had come up to them and looked at Anakin's mechanical arm. "You can have that replaced," she said.

Anakin shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I like my arm as it is," he said. He then finished making special modifications on Luke's hand and closed it up. He looked at Leia who had moved to the window and looked out into space through the window. Luke had gotten up and walked over to stand next to her.

"We'll find Han," Luke said putting an arm over Leia's shoulders.

Anakin watched her lean into him for comfort. Both of their force signatures brightening. Anakin's eyes widened as he felt the force signatures, so alike it was scary. That's when it hit him. The other child that Padme had talked about. It was Leia. Leia was his daughter!


	10. Dealing with the truth

_**AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry no action in this one, just one pain filled chapter with only Luke and Anakin. We'll get back to the others in the next chapter...**_

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_The sleek Naboo skiff landed on the Mustafar landing platform near Anakin's green starfighter. He ran up to the skiff as the ramp lowered. Padme ran into his arms.  
_

_"Padme, I saw your ship . . .," He said embracing her both happy to see her and angry that she had followed him out here when he told her to wait for him._

_"I was so worried about you. Obi-Wan told me terrible things," Padme said out of breath not looking him in the eyes. _

_"What things?" He asked her angrily. What has Obi-Wan been filling her head with?_

_"He said you have turned to the dark side . . . that you killed younglings," Padme said in shock with a hint of fear in her voice. He cursed Obi-Wan for telling Padme this._

"Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me," He told her. He knew that Obi-Wan would be against them and now he was trying to tear them apart.

"He cares about us," Padme said looking up at him. He saw the pain in her eyes and he knew there was more.

"Us??!" He asked. He wanted to hear her explanation. What had she told Obi-Wan?

_"He knows . . . He wants to help you," Padme told him. He didn't believe that one bit. If Obi-Wan cared then he would have filled his wifes head with lies._

"Is Obi-Wan going to protect you? He can't ... he can't help you. He's not strong enough," He told her shaking his head. She had to understand. Obi-Wan wasn't on their side. He wouldn't protect them. He wouldn't help them.

"Anakin, all I want is your love," Padme told him playing with the ends of his hair. What was she talking about/ she already had it. What was she getting at.

"Love won't save you, Padme. Only my new powers can do that," He told her. He had to make her understand. He was doing this for her. For them.

"At what cost? You are a good person. Don't do this!" Padme begged him. She was horrified. Thanks to Obi-Wan lies.

"I won't lose you the way I lost my mother! I've become more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of and I've done it for you. To protect you," He told her. He was telling her the truth. Didn't she see this? It was all for her.

"Come away with me. Help me raise our child. Leave everything else behind while we still can," Padme begged trying to convince him that what he was doing is wrong. He would hear none of it. He wasn't leaving and neither was she.

"Don't you see, we don't have to run away anymore. I have brought peace to the Republic. I am more powerful than the Chancellor. I can overthrow him, and together you and I can rule the galaxy. Make things the way we want them to be," He said trying to convince her that he was right. He knew that her love for the Republic would keep her at his side. She had to see reason.

"I don't believe what I'm hearing . . . Obi-Wan was right. You've changed," Padme said backing away from him. He frowned. Obi-Wan was turning her against him. She was going to leave him. He wont let her.

"I don't want to hear any more about Obi-Wan. The Jedi turned against me. Don't you turn against me!" He told her now pacing like a caged animal. Somehow he had to convince her to stay. Even if it mean by using force and locking her up.

"I don't know you anymore. Anakin, you're breaking my heart. I'll never stop loving you, but you are going down a path I can't follow," Padme told him backing away from him. She was repulsed. Because of Obi-Wan! She could be repulsed all she wanted but she wasn't going anywhere. She'll be by his side no matter what.

Suddenly a figure emerged from the ship and He looked up. "Because of Obi-Wan?" he said coming to a conclusion. They were in it together. She was with him! She betrayed him!

"Because of what you've done . . . what you plan to do. Stop, stop now. Come back! I love you!" Padme told him. He would hear no more of her lies. She had betrayed him!

"LIER!" He shouted. Padme turned around and saw Obi-Wan standing in the doorway of the Naboo Cruiser. He saw the panic on her face. She knew she was caught!

"No!" she yelled panicking.

"You're with him. You've betrayed me! You brought him here to kill me!" He shouted.

"NO! Anakin. I swear ... I ...," Padme started to say but He thrust out his hand force chocking her. Padme grabbed her throat as she started to choke. He would hear no more of her lies!

"Let her go, Anakin!" Obi-Wan ordered coming down the ramp. He turned to Obi-Wan sharply. The hatred flowing through him at the vary sight of him.  


_"What have you and she been up to?" He demanded angrily. His grip on Padme's throat tightened. They will pay for their treachery!_

"Let her go!" Obi-Wan shouted again.

He released his grip on the now unconscious Padme and she crumpled to the ground. He resumed his pacing. "You turned her against me!" he yelled. He was going to kill him. He could no longer live. He was a treat to him and Padme.

"You have done that yourself," Obi-Wan told him. He wont let him win. He may be smug now but when he kills him the smugness will be gone from his face.

"You will not take her from me!" He said throwing off his cloak. He was going to battle Obi-Wan to the death and he will win. Obi-Wan was older than him and less powerful, he had no chance.

"Your anger and your lust for power have already done that," Obi-Wan told him flinging off his cloak. "You have allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind until now . . . until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy!" The only thing twisted was this jedi and his viewpoints.

They circled each other until Obi-Wan was now near Padme. He placed his hand on her and breathed a sigh of relief that she was still alive. Did he actually think that he would kill her. He only did it to teach her a lesson. She will learn her place.

"Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, justice, freedom, and security to my new Empire," He said. Yes, the galaxy will be his. Once he learned everything he could from Palpatine, his master will die.

"Your new Empire?" Obi-Wan said shocked standing up. He didn't expect for Obie Wan to be on his side. That is why he must die.

"Don't make me kill you," He warned. He thought he'd let Obi-Wan plead his case, just to see the high and mighty jedi beg for his life.

"Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic ... to democracy!" Obi-Wan shouted. Pity, so he wont beg.

"If you're not with me, you're my enemy," He told him. Obi-Wan just didn't know how to make things fun. Well he'll have to learn the hard way.

"Only a Sith Lord deals in absolutes. I will do what I must," Obi-Wan said igniting his lightsaber. He grinned. So it begins. One less jedi to stand in his way.

"You will try," He said igniting his lightsaber. He lashed out at Obi-Wan, and they began a ferocious duel. He threw containers at Obi-Wan using the Force. They worked their way off the landing platform and into the main entry hallway. He kicked Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan dropped to a lower level. He and Obi-Wan moved their fight toward the main control center. As the lightsabers flew, bits of the hallway were cut up in the duel. He and Obi-Wan jumped and used every trick in the Jedi book. View screens exploded around him and Obi-Wan as they worked their way into the Control Room. The fighting was intense. Obi-Wan was on the defensive as he jumped up on the table view screen in the center of the room. He was making it all too easy.

_"Don't make me destroy you, Master. You're no match for the dark side," He said darkly. He knew that would hit the jedi hard._

"I've heard that before, Anakin . . . but I never thought I'd hear it from you," Obi-Wan said sadly. Ha! So he bleeds!

He forced Obi-Wan back into the Conference Room where the quarters are much closer. Sparks flew everywhere. He jumped onto the conference table. Obi-Wan slid across the table, knocking him over. Obi-Wan grabbed his lightsaber as he fell. Obi-Wan used the Force to summon his dropped lightsaber. He did the same. The battle intensified.

"The flaw of power is arrogance," Obi-Wan said. He stood looking at his former apprentice for a moment. Anakin saw his opening. The fool had too much compassion!

"You hesitate . . . the flaw of compassion," He said. He and Obi-Wan locked sabers again. Obi-Wan put out his hand to use the Force to push him away. He put out his hand to block Obi-Wan. Both combatants were blasted backwards onto the control panels. They regained their footing and their battle continued. He kicked Obi-Wan away. They battled around the room, and eventually the door to the exterior is knocked open. They continued battling out onto the balcony. He forced Obi-Wan down a narrow balcony outside the Control Room. He ripped objects off the wall and threw them at Obi-Wan as he pushed him further and further along the walkway. The balcony ended, and Obi-Wan was trapped. He was mildly satisfied. All too easy. He wanted a better fight. Obi-Wan looked over the balcony and into a river of lava. He cut apiece of the balcony railing off, along with a control panel. Alarms sound around them, and a protective ray shield around the superstructure disappeared. It tumbled into the molten abyss, disappearing in a puff of smoke. A small pipe connected the Control Center to the Main Collection Plant. Obi-Wan had no choice but to tightrope-walk out across the lava river while fighting him. He following Obi-Wan, jumped down onto the flexing pipe, landed, and resumed fighting. He and Obi-Wan worked their way across the small pipe, fighting ferociously as they went. Obi-Wan slipped, threw his lightsaber up in the air, grabbed on to the pipe, swung around, grabbed on to an upper pipe, retrieved his lightsaber, and landed back on the original pipe. They continue to fight across the pipe until they reached the Main Collection Plant. He and Obi-Wan battled on the top of the multi spired collection panels, jumping from one to the other. At the end of the collection cluster, a huge spray of lava covered the attachments that held up the collectors. The frame began to melt. It was raining lava. Both him and Obi-Wan ran for cover under the collection cluster. They continued to fight in the lava rain, darting from cover to attack, then quickly retreating to cover. Support for the entire structure began to fall away, and the collection cluster fell into the lava river. They continued their fight, climbing to the highest point on the tower as the rest began to melt away as it rode the swift current down the river. It bent toward the lava as they got out toward the end. Their fighting got fierce again. He grinned as they upped it a notch. He was really enjoying this. Obi-Wan got to the end and was trapped once again. Again he held mild satisfaction from this. He wanted to fight some more. Weaken the jedi by the minute before he killed him. The tower slowly started to sink under the lava. Obi-Wan realized he is getting very close to the edge of the lava falls. Obi-Wan grabbed a rope and leaped from the collection arm. He followed. He and Obi-Wan continued their fight hanging from cables as they swung past each other. From their cables, He and Obi-Wan both spotted something that caused them to stop fighting. The lava river ahead dropped off in a tremendous lava fall. Snapping and metal groans were heard as the main part of the collector started to break away and move toward the lava fall. Obi-Wan looked around and saw a small floating platform making its way toward the tower. Obi-Wan did a double hack-flip and landed squarely on the floating platform. He immediately leaned to one side and moved away from the tower. He realized he was doomed if he stayed where he was as the entire tower headed for the falls. In the distance he saw some construction droids. Grinning he swung back to the tower, climbed up and made a running leap and miraculously landed on a worker droid. The droid was confused and chattered to his co-worker. The giant collector went over the lava flow and disappeared in the mist of sparks below. Obi-Wan headed for the bank of the lava river, but his droid was faster. He caught up with his old Master. He and Obi-Wan continued their lightsaber duel. They battled away, balancing on the tiny platform and puzzled droid. Anakin, standing on the droid, approached Obi-Wan on the work platform.

"I have failed you, Anakin. I was never able to teach you to think," Obi-Wan said. He and Obi-Wan confront each other on the lava river. How to think! Ha! More like trying to control him. Obi-Wan knew that he was more powerful than him so he wanted to him under control.

"I should have known the Jedi were plotting to take over . . ." He shouted.

"From the Sith!!! Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil," Obi-Wan shouted. Of course he would say that!

"From the Jedi point of view! From my point of view, the Jedi are evil," He told him.

"Well, then you are lost!" Obi-Wan told him. No. Obi-Wan, you are the one who is lost.

"This is the end for you, My Master. I wish it were otherwise," He said. He wished that the battle would continue. That way he could kill the jedi more slowly.

He jumped and flipped onto Obi- Wan's platform. Their fighting continued again until Obi-Wan jumped toward the safety of the black sandy edge of the lava river. He yelled at him.

"It's over, Anakin. I have the high ground," Obi-Wan said. If he only knew.

"You underestimate my power!" He told him arrogantly.

"Don't try it," Obi-Wan warned him. He just didn't want to die! Well too bad!

He foolishly followed, and Obi-Wan cut his young apprentice at the knees, then cut off his left arm in the blink of an eye. He tumbled down the embankment and rolled to a stop near the edge of the lava. He struggled to pull himself up the embankment with his mechanical hand. His thin leather glove had been burned off. He kept sliding down in the black sand knowing that he was doomed this time and it was Obi-Wan's fault.

"You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would, destroy the Sith, not join them. It was you who would bring balance to the Force, not leave it in Darkness!" Obi-Wan shouted. Obi-Wan picked up his lightsaber and began to walk away. He stopped and looked back.

"I HATE YOU!" He shouted. He saw the pained expression on his face and was satisfied. That would kill the jedi more slowly from within until they meet again.

"You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you!" Obi-Wan shouted at him. Lies! Obi-Wan will pay dearly for his lies!

His clothing blew into the lava river and ignited. Suddenly He burst into flames and he started screaming.

Anakin shot up in bed screaming. Still feeling the flames on his skin he quickly tried to brush them off until the feeling was gone. He tried to catch his breath as he curled his knees up to his chest and placed his head in his hands. Still seeing the dream in his head he tried to knock it out by banging the back of his head against the wall with his hands still covering his face. He was still screaming.

Luke burst into the room as he heard the screaming. Luke placed a hand on Anakin's shoulders but Anakin shoved him away and curled up into a fetal position shaking. Luke once again placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Father, what's wrong?" he asked.

Anakin stopped shaking and sat up before slapping Luke's hand away. "Get away from me!" he snapped in the same voice as the one that shouted at Obi-Wan that he hated him in the dream. Luke backed up and out of the room.

Anakin brought his knees back up against his chest and leaned his head on them before taking a huge breath. This was NOT happening!

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Half an hour later Anakin had recovered from the dream and he walked out into the common area of Obi-Wan's old hut on Tatooine to find Luke working on his new lightsaber. Anakin watched as Luke pieced together the delicate parts of the lightsaber while reading Obi-Wan's notes.

It had surprised Anakin that Obi-Wan had kept notes of being a jedi for Luke. In fact everything Obi-Wan had in this hut now belonged to Luke including the dozens and dozens of jedi notes written in Obi-Wan's own hand and the different holocrons and parts for creating a lightsaber or more.

Luke was engrossed in creating his lightsaber, he didn't even know that Anakin was there. Anakin watched transfixed as Luke finished the last step in creating his lightsaber. Luke stood up and ignited the blade. It was a bright green blade, unlike Anakin's blue one.

"You know it took me a month to create my first lightsaber," Anakin said speaking up.

Luke looked up at Anakin then. "You okay?" he asked.

Anakin stepped away from the doorway and looked away from Luke. "Will you stop asking me that." he demanded.

"Sorry. I'm just worried about you," Luke said.

Anakin snapped his head up and looked at Luke sternly. "Well don't. I can manage fine by myself, I don't need anybody worrying about me!" he snapped.

It had been five months since the confrontation with Vader and Anakin had been seeing Vader's memories in his dreams. Every night he saw everything that Vader had done. It was like a holofilm and he was powerless to stop it. They kept coming. He felt the strain weighing him down. He barely slept anymore because of it, afraid that he would see the faces of all that he-no Vader- had ruthlessly murdered. Even the younglings. It sickened him, he wished that they would stop coming. What was worse was that he saw Vader torturing Leia, killing Padme and cutting off Luke's hand. No wonder Obi-Wan was reluctant to speak about it. It must have pained Obi-Wan to see him again. Yet Anakin couldn't help but feel resentful towards Obi-Wan for not telling him. But he understood why he didn't. He understood Obi-Wan's telling him and Luke that Vader had killed him. In a sense Vader _did_ kill him. Vader destroyed everything that Anakin was. For what?! For power? Anakin remembered Obi-Wan's remark on what Anakin had done to the tuskan raiders. And he told Chancellor Palpatine, The now Evil Emperor that they were fighting. The sith lord that they were looking for. Anakin couldn't believe that he had called Palpatine a friend! What a fool he was! They were all fools!

"I don't think you're doing a very good job at taking care of yourself," Luke said clipping his new lightsaber onto his belt. "I know that you haven't been sleeping. You're keeping yourself from sleeping so that you don't have those visions."

"You wouldn't be sleeping either if you saw what I was seeing," Anakin replied hotly.

"You're not the only one who's having trouble you know. Finding out that Dart Vader is my father isn't exactly comforting," Luke said going over to the stove and taking the porridge off of the burner. He busied himself by pouring the glop into two bowls and setting the bowls on the table.

Anakin knew that Luke was having just as much trouble with Vader's hidden identity as he was. He just dealt with things in a different way. His calm exterior reminded him so much of Padme but at the same time in unnerved him. It unnerved him that Luke could act so calm over it. Anakin had never been calm. He didn't know the meaning of the word.

"Lets see what else Obi-Wan left for you to go over now that you're done with your lightsaber," Anakin said changing the subject as he sat down at the table opposite of Luke.

Luke picked up the data pad and went over it. "Well here it goes over the different lightsaber forms," he said and set the data pad down.

"I think we should create a few new ones, Vader knows every one of these, it'll be hard to catch him off guard with the old ones," Anakin said and took a spoon full of porridge and eating it. "This needs some sweet powder," he said and summoned the large jar of sweet powder from the counter and adding some to his porridge. He the poured himself some blue milk and added sweet powder to that.

"You sure like sweet powder," Luke said.

"My mom used to buy sweet powder for me with what earnings I could win us. Of course she'd have to find a way to sneak it into our hovel because if Watto found out, he'd take it away," Anakin said and drank his blue milk. "It was the only way she'd get me to eat the slave food," he added.

"What happened to her?" Luke asked. He had heard Anakin talk about his mother loads of times, but what happened to her was a complete mystery.

"Do you mean after I was freed and brought to Coruscant to become and jedi or how she died?" Anakin asked.

"A little bit of both," Luke said taking a spoon full of porridge and eating it.

"Well, sometime after I left, Watto sold her to Cliegg Lars, Owen's, father and Cliegg freed her then married her," Anakin told him.

"So that's how I'm related to Uncle Owen, I've always wondered about that. I even asked, but Uncle Owen was always so tight lipped about it. He didn't really like talking about anything that related to you. Aunt Beru came close to saying something every so often but the Uncle Owen would walk in and that would be the end of it," Luke said.

"Well Owen and I didn't really know each other. So there would have been no use in asking him and Beru about me. Obi-Wan on the other hand, we've been like brothers since I first began my jedi training. You'd have been better asking him," Anakin said dismissively.

"Uncle Owen didn't like Ben, in fact he had ordered me to stay away from him," Luke said between spoon fulls of porridge.

"I'm not going to comment on that since I don't know the details," Anakin said. Inside he was a bit irritated at Owen's lack of letting his son know about his family history. Even if he had just cause. That is assuming that Owen knew about Vader.

Anakin picked up the data pad on the table again and studied the descriptions of the different lightsaber forms. He knew the forms by heart, but that wasn't what he was looking for. He was reading in between the lines. Working on meshing the different forms together in his mind. Trying to figure out new forms to use that will catch Vader and the Emperor off guard. He turned to his now cold porridge and pushed it aside.

"We're going to work on these forms, I've got a few ideas," Anakin said.

Luke finished the last spoon full of porridge and set his bowl aside. "When do you want to work on them?" he asked.

Anakin grinned as a thought came to him. He stood up and rummaged through the box containing the lightsaber materials. Obviously Obi-Wan and Yoda salvaged everything they could from the temple at one point. Then he found them. Connectors. He turned to Luke with a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

"Ever heard of a saberstaff?" Anakin asked. Luke shook his head 'no'. "A lightstff? Lightsaber lance?" Luke looked at him confused and Anakin sighed. "Those were common names for a special kind of lightsaber which a blade could emit from both ends. They're tricky so they aren't terribly common," he said and picked up the data pad for lightsaber construction and usage. "I haven't actually used one before, but if we read here what is listed in the data pads we can figure it out," he said and grinned at Luke. "The sith wont know what hit them," he said darkly.

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"Are you sure this is a good idea? From the notes here, it says that it is more dangerous to an untrained user than their opponent," Luke asked as he and Anakin pieced together their duel bladed lightsabers. It was a lot more difficult to piece together than a normal lightsaber. It was harder for Luke who had only put together one lightsaber before, but Anakin was an expert.

"I'm not concerned about that. We're Skywalkers, the force comes naturally with us. If you trust in the force then you have nothing to worry about," Anakin said. He had discarded his black glove so that his mechanical fingers could get into the smaller spots in his lightsaber. They had already spent three weeks working on their dual bladed lightsabers and Anakin was nearly done. He fused together the crystals in his lightsaber and a low humming could be heard. He grinned as his lightsaber was near complete.

Luke looked at Anakin's far more advanced lightsaber. "So how many lightsabers have you built?" he asked.

Anakin shrugged. "A few dozen. I kinda had a habit of loosing my lightsaber during battle. Obi-Wan used to get so annoyed with me over it and kept giving me the blade is your life lecture. I'd like to know what he thinks of our new plan of attack. I have to admit, I haven't tried anything _this_ far in advance before. I mean I'm pretty good with two lightsabers so I figure that the dual blade would work pretty well," he said.

Luke looked up at him in shock. "You've fought with two lightsabers?" he asked in disbelief.

Again Anakin shrugged. "It's no big deal. In the heat of the battle you learn to improvise a little," he said.

"Are you sure that Vader and the Emperor wouldn't expect this?" Luke asked. He was still a bit unsure about the effect of the dual blade lightsaber.

"Positive," Anakin said and finished his lightsaber. Once he was done he stood up, picked up the lightsaber and ignited it one end at a time. Twin sapphire blades lit up and hummed perfectly. Anakin grinned. "Phase one complete," he said and twirled the lightsaber.

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Luke stayed up late at night adding some finishing touches of his dual bladed lightsaber when he heard it. It wasn't uncommon to Luke's ears any more. It happened almost every night since that confrontation with Vader. His father would scream in his sleep. Every time Luke tried to help him or to get him to talk about it, his father became more distant. It bothered Luke how much learning the truth had affected his father. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. He shouldn't have to go through something this terrible. Sure, Anakin put up a brave front, but Luke wasn't fooled. What was worse was that his father didn't want his help. He refused any thing Luke tried to offer, slipping deeper and deeper into his shell. Luke watched helplessly as his father retreated into his pain. His smiles were tight and he rarely joked anymore. It was all about business these days. His father worked them tirelessly, preparing each other for the battle against the sith. He never rested. Luke was afraid of what would happen to his father when this was over. He wondered if he should contact Leia and tell her what was going on. But what would he tell her? How could she help with this? He didn't even know how to get in touch with Master Yoda or else he would and tell the Grand Master everything. Yoda would help them, he knew it. Luke focused on his lightsaber and tried as best as he could to block out his fathers screaming. He couldn't go in there. The last time he did, his father had thrown him across the room. No. There was nothing he could do for now but block it out and hope that his father would soon open up. He prayed to the force to show his father mercy and to stop tormenting his father. Because he was afraid of loosing his father all together.

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_He marched through the Jedi Temple with his clone army killing every jedi that crossed his path. He gave the orders to the clones to kill on sight as he searched through jedi quarters and killing each jedi that he found taking them all by surprise. With each jedi life he took the more powerful he became. Finally he made it up to the council chambers where he heard small frightened voices. He slid open the door and a small male youngling with blond hair and blue eyes stepped out._

"_Master Skywalker what should we do? There's so many of them," the youngling asked. _

_His reaction was the ignite his lightsaber startling the young child. He took advantage of the child's surprise and killed him. The other younglings screamed as he made his way around the room killing them all. He looked down on the first boy's face and saw Luke's eyes staring back at him lifeless. He backed away from it and turned away only to be met with another one still alive. She was the same age as the first one. She looked up at him with her brown eyes, her brown hair hung loosely around her face._

"_Why?" she asked sadly. "Why did you do it?"_

Anakin shot up in bed in a cold sweat. Never again. He was never again going back to sleep. He won't see anymore. He can't. He can't go back to sleep. He refused. Nothing and no one can make him do it. He didn't care how much sleep he lost. He will not see them again!

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"You're not sleeping. Again!" Luke snapped nine days later.

Anakin looked up at Luke with bloodshot eyes and dark bags under them. "Leave me alone, Luke," he said.

"I'll join Vader before I let this go!" Luke said defiantly.

Anakin turned away from his son. He didn't get it. He didn't see their faces. He didn't hear their screams. He didn't feel their pain. He didn't see himself killing his family! Anakin stood up and looked out the window across the desert. Tatoo I and Tatoo II bore down on the surface of Tatooine creating a huge heat wave. He could smell the sandstorm forming in their air. He hated Tatooine. Nothing but pain was filled with this planet. But a life time of pain was what he deserved wasn't it?

"Why can't you just talk about it?" Luke asked frustrated.

Anakin didn't answer him. There was only one person he wanted to talk to. But she wasn't here. He had killed her. He strangled her, almost killing her. She died giving birth because of him. He killed the one person who loved him despite his faults. She was the one person who didn't lecture him. She was the only one to ever hold him, to tell him that everything was going to be okay. Because she was here, with him. He killed her.

"Don't you think that I would know what you're going through as well?" Luke said now sounding desperate.

Anakin hung his head in shame. If the galaxy could see their hero now. They would be shocked. They would be outraged. He had betrayed them. Anakin looked back out into the desert. He had to make things right. He didn't know how he would do it. But he had to fix things.

"I think we're ready," Anakin finally said. "Contact the others, We're getting Han."


	11. Rescuing Han

Tatoo I and Tatoo II bore down of the desolate terrain of Tatooine. A winding road lead to the massive palace of Jabba the Hutt, a vile gangster. If you weren't his type of scum, you never left the palace free and alive. Somewhere inside that palace was the frozen form of Han solo. Walking up the winding road to Jabba's palace were two jedi. Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker walked with the hoods of their cloaks up concealing their identities. They had sent Artoo and Threepio to the palace three days prior as part of their plan as a sort of peace offering with a message to Jabba telling him that they wanted Han Solo. Leia went there two days ago disguised as a bounty hunter with Chewbacca as her prisoner to infiltrate the palace. Lando Calrissian was there as well, disguised as one of Jabba's guards. Infiltrating Jabba's palace was easily done with disguises.

"We have no way of knowing if they're all right and haven't been caught," Luke said.

Anakin closed his eyes and reached out with the force. But the palace was closed off. "No. We don't," he said at last.

They continued walking up the winding road to Jabba's palace. Anakin had been here before when he was a small child. Back then it belonged to Gardulla the Hutt, that is until her death. After which Jabba seized her palace. Anakin knew this palace inside and out.

"Our plan will work even with minor set backs. Everything will work out. They always do," Anakin said.

Luke nodded. They haven't spoken of anything but their plan in the last two weeks. Luke had voiced his desire to see Yoda again and asked his father to accompany him. To Luke's surprise Anakin agreed. Luke planned on gaining Yoda's help in getting Anakin to talk about what he had seen in his dreams. As far as Luke knew, Anakin had stopped having visions in his sleep. For the past week, Anakin had seemed to have gotten some sleep and hadn't woken up screaming. For that Luke was grateful.

They approached the giant iron door to Jabba's palace. Anakin nodded at Luke and together they used the force to open the giant door which slowly slid upwards. Once the door was high enough for them to walk in, they slowly walked out of the bright light from Tatooine's twin suns and into the barely lit palace. It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the change in light. Anakin noticed Jabba's male twi'lek servant Bib Fortuna hurrying forward. Anakin backed away.

"You know what to do, I'm going to have a look around," Anakin said to Luke before joining the shadows before Luke could respond.

Two of Jabba's guards stepped forward to stop Luke from stepping forward blocking him with their spears crisscrossing before him. Luke raised his hand at the puzzled guards, who immediately lowered their spears and fell back. Luke continued onward into Jabba's palace. Bib Fortuna approached Luke and spoke to him in huttiese.

"I must speak with Jabba," Luke said. Bib Fortuna protested telling Luke that Jabba refuses any deal that he could make to rescue Han Solo. But Luke held up his hand and used to force to trick Bib Fortuna's mind. "You will take me to see Jabba now," Luke said.

Bib Fortuna looked at Luke transfixed. "I will take you to Jabba now," he said and turned to lead Luke into Jabba's throne room.

"You serve your master well," Luke said calmly. Bib Fortuna responded in saying something in huttiese. "And you will be rewarded," Luke finally said.

Anakin watched Luke follow the twi'lek into Jabba's throne room. He moved amongst the shadows and made it into the throne room and stood behind where Lando was posing as one of Jabba's guards.

"How's the plan going so far?" Anakin asked making Lando jump slightly at the sound of Anakin's voice.

Lando looked behind him but all he saw was shadows. That is until he heard the fold of fabric as Anakin hid his lightsabers behind him. He leaned in the direction of the soft noise. "Leia managed to free Han of the carbonite but Jabba caught her when she removed her mask for Han. Han and Chewie are in the dungeon and Leia is over there with Jabba," Lando said quietly.

Anakin quickly looked over at Jabba and saw Leia dressed in a skimpy slave girl outfit held by a chain to stay close to Jabba. Anger boiled within Anakin at the sight of his daughter being one of Jabba's slaves. His hands itched for his lightsaber so that he could kill Jabba on sight. "Why that slimy no good slug! How dare he make Leia a slave!" Anakin muttered angrily.

Lando leaned back towards Anakin. "Leia's about as upset about it as you are. But, if we're going to make this work, we must remain calm," he said.

Lando's words were heard on deaf ears as Anakin rushed forward without thinking how this was going to effect their plan.

"Jabba!" Anakin shouted catching the vile hutt's attention. He lowered his hood and when he next spoke it was in huttiese. "Remember me!" Anakin shouted.

"Anakin Skywalker!" Jabba shouted angrily slamming his fist.

"IN THE FLESH!" Anakin shouted for everyone to understand pulling out his lightsaber and igniting it. Luke looked at him sharply while Jabba's cronies all backed away in fear of the jedi weapon.

"If you don't release Solo, the wookiee and Leia now, you will be dead in five minutes time," Anakin said dangerously.

Jabba laughed and pulled a leaver. Suddenly the floor beneath Anakin and Luke gave away making the shocked Skywalkers fall into a pit along with a helpless guard.

Anakin and Luke quickly got to their feet while the guard fearfully tried to find a way to get out. Luke glared at his father.

"Now look what you've done!" Luke yelled at him.

"No time to yell at me now, we have to get out of here before..." Anakin said and soon the grinding of an iron door was heard as it lifted. "They let the rancor loose," he finished darkly.

"Rancor! What the hell is that?" Luke yelled.

"You'll see in just a few moments, quick get your lightsaber out if you don't want to become Rancor food!"

Luke instantly pulled out his lightsaber as the hideous rancor emerged. Luke's eyes widened as he took in the thirty foot tall monster with stumpy legs, long arms and long claws with a hunch back came forward. It's face was flat and it had long sharp teeth dripping with saliva.

"This isn't going to be pretty," Anakin commented, ignited lightsaber gripped tightly in his mechanical hand.

Just then the rancor picked up the guard that was scrambling to get out and chomped down on him with a sickening crunch.

Luke looked away from the rancor and looked sharply at his father. "You're awfully calm about this!" he said.

Anakin didn't reply to that as the rancor came closer to them. As the rancor reached out to them, Anakin quickly sliced off the rancors upper arm. The rancor backed off howling in pain. Anakin and Luke quickly rushed towards the gate finding the only doorway beyond the gate locked. By now the rancor had recovered and came at them again seeming to be pissed. Luke watched in horror as the rancor come closer as Anakin trust his lightsaber through the door. By now the rancor was right under the gate. Luke saw this and looked for the control to the gate, finding it right by the rancor which was reaching for them. As Anakin was cutting a hole through the door, Luke used the force to push the lever to close the gate on the rancor. The gate came crashing down on the rancor's head killing the beast. With the rancor dead the door that Anakin was cutting into opened and the guards came through. Anakin and Luke made quick work in disposing the guards as they made their way into Jabba's dungeon.

"We need to find out where Han and Chewie are being held," Anakin said putting away his single bladed lightsaber and pulling out his dual bladed one. Luke did the same as more guards came down into the dungeon. Anakin quickly disarmed them by cutting off their hands. When no more came down, Anakin pulled one of the guards up and spoke to it in huttiese. "Where's Solo and the wookiee?" he demanded. The guard quickly mumbled something keeping it's eyes on Anakin's lightsaber. Satisfied with his answer, Anakin threw the guard against the wall.

Luke quickly grabbed some blasters from the wall of the dungeon and headed down to the cells. Luke stopped right before the tenth cell on the right and used the force to slid open the door. Chewie roared up at him.

"Han, you alright?" Luke asked.

"Why don't you get frozen for god knows how long and we'll see how you are!" Han shot at him looking around the cell for Luke.

"Think you can handle a blaster?" Luke asked skeptically seeing Han stumble around using his hands to feel around.

"I can't see but firing a blaster is second nature to me," Han said taking offense at Luke's skeptical tone.

Luke handed the blaster to Chewie. "You help him out of this cell, come on," he said to the wookiee as they left the cell.

"I can take care of myself kid!" Han said hotly but Chewie growled at him. By the time they reached the entrance of the dungeon, Anakin was no where in sight. All they guards were in a heap of either dead bodies or injured bodies. Luke sighed to himself. It seemed to be something his father liked to do to an enemy.

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Leia looked around fearfully at the direction the guards had left to retrieve Han, Chewie, Luke and Anakin. No one had returned yet. It had been more than ten minutes. Finally a commotion was being made in the other direction. Leia turned in time to see Han firing a blaster in every which direction and Luke wielding a lightsaber with two green blades Chewie was strangling and throwing guards all over the place. Lando was already at her side. She turned to him and nodded at him. She was going to be alright. Lando took the hint and joined Luke, Han and Chewie. Lando quickly grabbed the blaster out of Han's hands and shoved Han down before shooting more of Jabba's guards. Jabba was outraged and pulled her closer putting a dagger to her throat speaking in huttiese. All the fighting stopped as everyone realized that if they didn't Leia's life was on the line. All Leia could think about at that moment when she stayed still was where Anakin was. He was no where to be seen. That is until she heard a slow hum from behind her.

"Drop the dagger Jabba," Came Anakin's threatening voice.

Leia felt the dagger press harder to her throat before it was viciously yanked out of Jabba's hand. As soon as it was gone she pulled away from Jabba and turned around to see Anakin come around with a double bladed lightsaber to Jabba's throat.

"Let the face of the hero without fear be the last one you see before you die, Jabba!" Anakin said loudly before plunging his blade through Jabba's chest.

Leia watched with morbid fascination as the vile slug withered and died. Anakin quickly stepped down as soon as his lightsaber was deactivated and clipped to his belt. He then approached her and pulled out his other lightsaber with one hand and grabbed the chain around her neck.

"Keep very still," Anakin told her and sliced off the chain with his lightsaber before hooking it back on his belt. He then shrugged out of his cloak and wrapped it around her. He pulled her close to him. "Did he hurt you?" he demanded.

Leia was taken aback by Anakin's show of possessive protectiveness. This was a side of him that she didn't know. He was only like this with Luke. Why was he acting this way with her suddenly? Leia nodded regaining her composure. "I'm fine," she said stepping away from him and pulling his cloak more firmly around her. "Thank you," she added. Anakin Skywalker was an enigma to her. She had known him for four years now but the man was still a mystery. He was a cunning worrier and by looking at what he did to Jabba, he was a very dangerous opponent, thankfully he was on their side.

With Jabba dead, his cronies were all scattering away from them. Luke ran up to them while both Chewie and Lando were trying to direct a semi blind Han out the door. Luke looked at Leia first. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Leia pulled Anakin's cloak tighter around her again. "I'm fine, but I'm not so sure about Han," she said and looked over to where Han had gotten away from Lando and Chewie and was still stumbling around.

Luke then turned to Anakin. "I thought you would be waiting for me when I got Han and Chewie," he said.

"I had to come up here and make sure Leia was alright. Knowing Jabba, he could have hurt her for what we had done," Anakin said and walked away to try to contain Han.

"Your brother is a dangerous opponent, I'm glad he's on our side. I'd hate to think of how the Empire would use his skills," Leia said.

Luke looked at her sharply. He wanted to tell Leia and Han the truth. That Anakin was his father and a jedi knight from the old republic, Leia especially but something was stopping him. Instead he nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean," he said as he and Leia joined the rest.

Leia put her arms around Han and brought his face down to hers before kissing him softly. Luke turned away to see Anakin glare at Han for some odd reason. Luke was going to question him about that later.

"Lets leave this place," Leia said.

"I couldn't agree with you more. Threepio! Artoo!" Anakin said and they left with the two droids following them.

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Luke sat down with Anakin outside back at Obi-Wan's old hut. They all had taken a vehicle from Jabba's palace back to the hut where they were helping Han recuperate. Leia was busy feeding Han while Lando and Chewie were doing a few repairs on the Falcon on the other side of the hut where two X-wings sat. Artoo, Arfor and Threepio were both inside playing a game. Anakin and Luke watched Tatoo I set closely followed by Tatoo II.

"So are you going to tell me why all of a sudden you have an interest with Leia?" Luke asked.

Anakin didn't answer him at first as he continued to watch the twin suns set. "She's your sister," Anakin said quietly.

Luke looked at him sharply at that. "What? Are you sure?" he asked shocked.

"It took me three years to realize, but her force signature very closely resembles yours, they're almost identical. There is no mistaking it. Leia is your twin sister," Anakin said.

Luke looked at the setting suns as he let the realization sink in. Leia was his sister. His _twin_ sister. He had never been told that he had any siblings. He had always assumed that he was an only child. He had a sister. It explained the fact the he felt closer to Leia than anyone else. Now he knew why. "We have to tell Leia," he said and went to get up but Anakin held him down.

"We're not going to do anything about it right now. When the time is right. She will know about everything. For now, just leave her with Han," Anakin said firmly.

"But don't you want her to know the truth as I do?" Luke pressed.

"I hardly think that telling her that Darth Vader is her father going to make her trust us. She'll throw us out of the Rebellion in no time," Anakin said wanting to laugh bitterly.

"We don't have to tell her about Vader. We can leave that part out," Luke said.

Anakin smirked. Yes, they can leave that part out. But what will it help? Anakin continued to watch as finally Tatoo II disappeared behind the sand dunes. He wanted Leia to know who he was. He really did. But she was still mourning Bail Organa, the man who raised her, the man who adopted _his_ daughter. Would she accept the truth? Would she believe it as Luke did? Leia was smart like her mother. In fact she had many of Padme's traits down pact. A powerful and compassionate leader. She could argue her point until she had you agreeing with her. Anakin still couldn't believe that it took him three years to realize it.

Softly he felt a small brush against his cheek as though it were wind against his cheek. Anakin closed his eyes as the scent of a lotus flower engulfed him. "Padme," he breathed softly. As fast as it came, it was gone and Anakin opened his eyes to see Luke curiously looking at him. "Come on, we should get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll finally be leaving this dust ball," he said standing up. Luke followed shortly while Lando, Han and Chewie boarded the Falcon to sleep.

When they stepped into the small hut, Leia was cleaning up the mess. It was the fist time the hut was actually being cleaned since Anakin and Luke took refuge here. Leia's slave girl outfit was discarded in a corner since Anakin had taken a trip to Ancorhead to get her some decant clothes. Of course they were Tatooine rags in comparison to what she was used to, but Leia didn't complain. In fact she tanked him with a hug before dashing off to change.

Leia turned to them when they entered. "Didn't you guys ever clean while you were here?" she asked them. Luke and Anakin shrugged.

"We had other things to do that were more important," Anakin said sitting down.

"Like what? What could you possibly have done here?" Leia asked.

"Training," Anakin said simply.

Luke looked up at Leia from his spot on the bench against the back wall. "I cleaned a little," he said.

"Obviously not enough," Leia said and put down the rag that was in her hands. She then turned to Anakin. "Why didn't you help him?" she asked.

"I've try to avoid cleaning," Anakin said. He then looked up at Leia. "You should get some sleep, we'll all be leaving this desolate place tomorrow," he told her.

Leia nodded. "Just make sure you two get some sleep as well," she said before disappearing into the bedroom in the back.

Luke turned to Anakin. "Are you going to get some sleep?" he asked.

"I'll get a little," he said and Luke nodded before slipping inside the sleeping bag he would be sleeping in. Anakin watched over him as he fell asleep thinking about what it would be like to watch over his children when they were little.


	12. New plan

Anakin busied himself with loading his X-wing as Luke said good by to his-their- friends the next morning. Han was now back to his old self by now and he and Leia wasted no time with each other. Anakin knew that he would be watching out for Han Solo when he was in his own time. He only hoped that Solo actually turned up, space pirate or not when things are different. Despite his new found fatherly instincts where his only daughter was concerned, Anakin knew that he'd rather have no other guy than Han Solo for Leia to fall in love with. He respected the kind of man Han was.

Luke had given his word not to tell anyone, Leia especially about the new knowledge that Leia was his sister. It wasn't that Anakin didn't want her to know. He did. But he was a little unsure about how she would react. If he was honest with himself, he was afraid of rejection. Afraid that his daughter who reminded him so much of Padme in spirit would reject him. Sure Luke accepted him and still did even after Vader's revelation. But Leia was different. He- no Vader had tortured her, forced her to watch her home be destroyed. No, he couldn't tell her. She can't know about him. Because once she found out, she would find out about Vader. Anakin was about to lift another crate and load it into his X-wing without the force when a large hand covered his. Anakin looked up at Solo.

"Leia told me about the job you did on Jabba, I'm just sorry I was blind at the time," Han said.

"Well Jabba had it coming for a long time," Anakin said loading the crate into the X-wing.

"I may have been blind at the time, but I wasn't deaf. I heard what you said to him." Han said making Anakin stiffen. "Truth be told I always thought you looked strikingly like the hero without fear and felt it a little odd that you share the same name. I know you and Luke are brothers, but do you two have any relation to him?" Han asked offhandedly looking at Anakin intently.

Anakin didn't look at him. "Something like that," he replied loading the last crate into his X-wing. "Why are you so interested in the hero without fear anyways?" he asked at last looking at Han.

Han didn't look at him. "I don't know. I guess because when I was a kid on the streets, I sorta looked up at him. No one really knows what happened to him after the jedi purges. I can't imagine storm troopers killing jedi knight Anakin Skywalker and if he were still around, the rebellion could sure use him," he said and then gave Anakin a crooked smile. "But that's just wistful thinking. If he hadn't shown his face by now, then he must be dead. And if he's truly gone, then our fight will be on going until The Emperor and Vader are dead." with that Han turned back to his own ship leaving Anakin to his thoughts.

Luke walked up to him helmet in his hands. "Ready to go?" he asked.

Anakin smiled. "I have a lot of apologizing and groveling to do when I see Master Yoda. I think I'm ready for that," he said as Arfor and Artoo settled themselves into their cubbyholes in the X-wings.

Leia walked over to them, giving them each a kiss on the cheek. "Be safe and don't linger away too long this time. I want to see you both very soon," she said.

Anakin smiled at her. "You will Leia, I promise. We'll join you back at the fleet very soon," he said squeezing her hand with his flesh one.

"You better, I have a strong suspicion that we'll be needing you two very soon," she said before turning back to the Falcon where Lando and Han were standing very close together as Threepio bothered Chewie. Chewie growled and shook his fist at the oblivious droid.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin cursed again in huttiese as he banged his head crawling into Yoda's small hut on Dagobah. Luke was already inside having less difficulty than Anakin was having. Luke may be his son, but Luke wasn't as big as Anakin was. With more difficulty and more cursing in huttiese, Anakin managed to get himself inside the small hut. When he gets back to his own time, Yoda wont be living in such tight quarters. He was sure of it. Once he was fully inside the hut, he noticed that it was taking Yoda a lot more force strength to move around as he leaned on his gimer stick. Luke noticed this too as both Skywalkers looked at Yoda with concern.

"Hmm. That face you make. Look I so old to young eyes?" Yoda said weakly slowly moving along his hut.

Luke had the decency to try to hide his concern after that. "No... of course not," he covered himself.

"I do, yes, I do! Sick have I become. Old and weak," Yoda said hobbling around. He pointed a finger at Luke. "When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not. Hmm?" he said hotly.

Anakin tried to move about the hut after Yoda. "Master are you okay?" he asked concerned.

Yoda looked at Anakin then. "Troubled you have become again Anakin," he said.

Anakin hung his head before meeting the Grand Master's eyes. "Master Yoda, I must apologize to you. I've destroyed everything because of my lust for power," he said humbly. He felt Luke's intent gaze bore through the back of his skull.

"Hmm, Power it may have been to bring forth Vader, but not entirely. Fear it was, fear of loosing someone dear to you. Had visions of it you did. Confided in me you did. Though you did not say who it was that would die. Only after you turned did I learn that you had broken the code and gotten married! Your fear led you down a dark path of destruction. Felt your pain when your mother died I did. Had visions of her dying you did too. Stopped it we could have. Woke up the beast inside you it did," Yoda said calmly.

"Master Yoda, I am so sorry, I beg for your foreignness," Anakin said hanging his head.

"Why forgive you for what you have not done yet should I?" Yoda asked. He hobbled to his cot and laid down. Anakin helped him pull the covers over him. "Your humanity lost it was when you lost the ones you loved. Love kept you human. When get back to your own time point that out you will. Listen to you I will," he said.

"Yes Master," Anakin said obediently. He knew that Yoda was dying. He could see it. He only wished that they had more time. He had hoped that they could have Yoda's help in destroying the sith. "I promise you, Master, I will not let the sith take over again. Now that I have seen for myself how destructible Palpatine is, I won't let him take over. I won't let the jedi order be destroyed again. My allegiance lies with you so long as I live," he said.

"Powerful words. Powerful words indeed," Yoda said.

Luke must have realized that Yoda was dying too because he came forward. "Master Yoda, you can't give up now, we still need you," he said hoping that this wasn't the end for Yoda.

"I have taught you all I can teach you. One last thing remains before you are to become a jedi," Yoda said.

"Vader," Luke said knowing what the Grand Master was saying.

"You must face him again. Failed the first time, you have," Yoda said.

Luke looked at Anakin and Yoda incredulously. "You expect me to kill him?" he asked in dread.

Anakin felt for Luke, he really did. He couldn't fathom what it would be like if the jedi had asked him to kill his mother. But he knew that Vader's fate lay in Luke's hands. He also knew that he needed for Vader to die. The fate of the galaxy depended on it. Anakin couldn't be the one to do it, it had to be Luke. Anakin knew that Luke would have a problem with it. Some how he had to convince Luke to pull through with it. It was the only way and he hated putting Luke in this spot.

"Vader's fate ties in with Sidious' and the galaxy's. A jedi must not fail to perform their sworn duty," Yoda said. "Sleep, I must sleep now," he said curling up in his cot.

Anakin nodded in understanding. This was it. Yoda was dying. This was his fate. "I will miss you Master. Your guidance has always meant a great deal to me," Anakin said resting Yoda's gimer stick against the wall next to the cot.

Yoda humphed. "Lean from your mistakes you will. The future rests upon it," he said before taking his last breath. Before Anakin's and Luke's eyes, Yoda's body disappeared as he became one with the force.

Luke looked over at his father sharply. "Does that always happen?" he asked. "There is no body left?"

Anakin didn't take his eyes away from where he last saw Yoda. "No, there's always a body, as far as I knew. In tradition, we burned the body in a ceremony, but this. This is new. I think. I think this is the living force. Qui-Gon once told me about it. Every jedi thought he was mad for believing in it. But now... He was right. I should have known. Qui-Gon was never wrong," he said and finally turned to his son. "Come on, there's nothing here for us now." and he moved his way out of the hut followed closely by Luke.

Anakin stood up straight and worked out the cricks in his back and joints from his awkward position in the hut as Luke stood up.

"So you finally believe in the living force do you? Took you long enough Ani."

Anakin spun around fast to see the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn. His face broke out in a huge grin. "I should have known I had you watching my back the whole time! Making sure your favorite slave boy doesn't mess up?" he said.

"You've always been very smart Ani. And talented. I was amazed how selfless and willing to help a boy who has known nothing but harsh slavery you were. You have much compassion in you Ani. But you hold so much anger since your mother died. You must let go of your anger. For your own sake," Qui-Gon said and spotted Luke looking at him strangely. "Hello Luke. I've been watching you for a long time. I'm sorry we haven't been formally introduced yet."

Anakin, still smiling, turned to look at his son. "Luke, meet Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. He was my first master until he died. He freed me from slavery when I was just a child. He was also Obi-Wan's master," he said.

"So you found my father on Tatooine," Luke said.

"I also introduced your parents in a way. Something you will learn eventually. But not from me, that's your parents tale," Qui-Gon said.

"Master, tell me, how did I end up here?" Anakin asked. He had a feeling that Qui-Gon held the answers he was seeking.

"That's partly due to me. It took me twenty years to convince the council to give you a look into your future. The council has granted you two years for when you return to your own time to fix Vader's mistake. The councils exact words for me wanting to give you this chance was my blind faith in you. I personally don't believe that I am blind," Qui-Gon said.

"No Master, I don't think you're blind either," Anakin said.

Qui-Gon gave Anakin a stern look. "I however remember telling you not to slaughter the tuskan raiders after you found your mother brutally beaten in their camp. I hope you listen to me this time," he said.

"They were animals for what they did to my mother!" Anakin defended himself.

"Ani, think. Why did they take Shmi? Why her? She was on her own land. The tuskan raiders only attack someone out in open land or in the jundland wastlands. Why would a tribe of sand people come onto someone's land and take a woman prisoner?" Qui-Gon said.

"To lure you into a trap," Luke said eyes widening. He looked over at his father to see that he was thinking about what Qui-Gon said.

Finally Anakin looked up at them, anger flashed behind his eyes momentarily. "Sidious," he said and cursed at himself in huttiese.

"Qui-Gon is right Anakin," Obi-Wan said showing up in spirit also. "If I had known what was being done to your mother, had I not dismissed your dreams, you would have never taken that first step into darkness. I am as much to blame for your downfall as Sidious. I only wish you could have confided in me instead."

"I was just as blind as everybody in the Republic," Anakin said bitterly. "Palpatine fooled us all and I intend to make him pay as soon as I get back."

Luke looked at the two ghosts silently. He knew that they could help him get Anakin talking about his dreams. What ever was in them obviously had taken a toll on Anakin and they had given him an even bigger edge than he had about him before. Luke noticed this in Jabba's palace. The way that he had killed Jabba, it was more like an assassination rather than a jedi fighting. Either way, he had to get Anakin to talk about his dreams and he could use Obi-Wan's help.

Obi-Wan looked at Luke carefully. He was too quiet. Luke was never one to be quiet like this. "Something on your mind Luke?" he asked.

"He's wondering about Ani's dreams," Qui-Gon said making Luke look at him sharply and Anakin look sharply at Luke. Qui-Gon looked at Anakin with understanding. "You've seen what Vader has done haven't you," he said more of a statement rather than a question.

Anakin turned away from them. He could feel their eyes on him. How could he describe what he had seen? How could he tell them? Luke would never look at him the same way again. No. Luke couldn't know. He will never tell Luke. It was his burden alone. He must live with those visions alone. "Lets not talk about what Vader has done," he said and turned back at them.

"You can't keep it bottled up inside. It'll slowly eat at you. Don't you see? If you keep it all bottled in then you'll slip further into darkness," Luke said calmly.

"You sound like your mother," Anakin told him. "She always had me talk about what was bothering me," he said and then shook his head. "No. Not this time. The deeds of a monster isn't something I want to talk about with you."

"Then who are you going to talk about them with? You can't keep it to yourself," Luke persisted.

"I think it would be best if you talked with me about them, Anakin. I know more than anyone what you were like once your turned," Obi-Wan suggested.

Qui-Gon nodded in agreement. "Luke, do you know how your father won his freedom?" he asked.

Luke shook his head. "Up until today, I didn't even know that Father was a slave," Luke said.

Qui-Gon smiled. "Understandable. Come, let me tell you all about it," he said ushering Luke on the other side of the hut well out of earshot of what Anakin and Obi-Wan would talk about.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at Anakin. "Well would you rather stand and pace as you tell me about them or would you like to calmly sit?" he asked.

"You should know that I've never been calm about anything," Anakin said.

"Suit yourself. Although I'd rather you not pace, pacing is more of a sith's manner," Obi-Wan said sitting on a root.

"What would you like me to say Master?" Anakin asked unsure about how he was going to talk about what Vader had done.

"You must realize that you are not Vader, at least not yet. The deeds of a monster are not yours," Obi-Wan told him.

"How can you be so sure?" Anakin asked him. True he and Vader were two entirely different people yet they were one and the same. Vader's deeds were his, yet he couldn't fathom how he could kill younglings without a moments hesitation.

"Because I know you Anakin. When I saw those security holos, I was in shock. Yoda had told me that I must stop you before you could do any more but I didn't want to. It pained me to fight you as the enemy. In the end when it came down to finishing the job, I couldn't do it. You were my brother. I couldn't kill you as my duty as a jedi demanded that I do," Obi-Wan said in remorse.

"I know, I saw that particular memory. It was one of the worser ones. Coming up close with the slaughter of the younglings. So many has suffered at Vader's hands. My hands. How do I convince Luke of what he must do? I know that Vader must die. But I also know that I can't be the one to do it. It has to be Luke," Anakin said.

"Maybe if he knew of what Vader had done, he would feel more convinced of what he must do. He feels that there is still good in Vader. I only wish that he is right. I wish that somewhere deep inside the darkness that Vader has, there is a little bit of Anakin Skywalker in him. But it's been too long. He's too submersed in the ways of the sith," Obi-Wan said.

"I can't tell Luke," Anakin said and sighed. "How can I tell my son that I'm a monster?" he asked.

"Maybe if you make sure that he knows the difference between the two personalities," Obi-Wan suggested and then spotted Luke looking in their direction. "Either way he must know if he is to do his duty and stop Vader so that you can stop Palpatine. After all once your job is done, then you return to your own time," Obi-Wan said. "Either way, Luke must know."

"So my only option is to tell Luke? I don't want to do it," Anakin said crossing his arms in defiance.

"Who said that you had to tell him? It's up to you Anakin. But you know that Luke is the only one who could do it. He's the only one who can stop Vader," Obi-Wan said.

"Is that why you told Luke that Vader murdered me? Because you need him to stop Vader?" Anakin asked looking over to Luke who was listening quietly to whatever Qui-Gon was telling him.

"No, I told him that to protect him. Not only that, but it's a variation of the truth that I told myself to keep the pain of your betrayal from taking over," Obi-Wan said. He then looked up as Luke and Qui-Gon approached them.

"We've had quite a talk," Qui-Gon said. "Luke understands that you're not Vader, Ani," he said.

Anakin nodded, he knew that Qui-Gon wouldn't just tell Luke about the pod race. They were over there for too long. "We should get back to the Rebellion. They'll be needing us," he said.

"Yes I believe that you'll be fighting very soon. Are you up for that Anakin?" Obi-Wan said raising an eyebrow.

"I'm always ready for a fight," Anakin said proudly.

"If I know the Empire, they'll have something up their sleeves. Which means we need to be ready," Luke said.

"Right you are Luke," Qui-Gon said. "Now go You two. You need to be briefed."

Anakin bowed to the two jedi masters before putting a hand on Luke's shoulder. Luke looked at the jedi masters. "Will you be there with us?" Luke asked.

"The jedi will always be with you," Qui-Gon said.

"My the force be with you both," Obi-Wan added before the two jedi disappeared leaving Luke and Anakin alone.

"Let's get back to the fleet," Anakin said walking to his X-wing. Luke looked back to where the figures of the jedi masters once stood before climbing into his own X-wing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Anakin and Luke reached the new base on Zhar, Leia was there immediately to greet them, giving them both a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "It took you long enough. Come on, you're just in time. We're about to be briefed on our new mission," She said and lead the way into the main briefing room. Anakin and Luke sat down with Leia, Han, Lando and Chewie. In the center of the room was a holographic model depicting the half-completed Imperial Death Star, the nearby Moon of Endor, and the protecting deflector shield. Anakin stared intently at the image of the Death Star studying what schematics he could see just by looking at it.

Luke looked over at Lando and smiled. "I see you've been made a general," he said and Han smirked.

"I personally find it hard to believe," Han said sarcastically wanting to laugh.

"Well someone must have told them about my little maneuver at the battle of Taanab," Lando said looking at Han pointedly.

"Well, don't look at me, pal. I just said you were a fair pilot. I didn't know they were lookin' for somebody to lead this crazy attack," Han said, the sarcastic tone not leaving his voice as he leaned back.

"I'm surprised they didn't ask you to do it," Lando said.

"Well, who says they didn't. But I ain't crazy. You're the respectable one, remember?" Han said.

"I'm surprised that either of you scoundrels are even considered for a more respectable position," Anakin said catching both mens attention and blocked their attack of ration wrappers with the force sending them back at them.

Luke and Leia tried to suppress the smiles before they looked at each other and chuckled. Anakin looked at the two snickering and smiled. That's when he felt the attack of ration wrappers at the back of his head. He turned around quickly to see both Han and Lando look at him innocently.

"What?" they both asked.

That's when Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar walked into the room. Mon Mothma called for attention and the group of friends stopped joking with each other and looked at her in the middle of the room.

"The Emperor has made a critical error and the time for our attack has come," Mon Mothma said and turned to the image of the unfinished Death star. "The data brought to us by the Bothan spies pinpoints the exact location of the Emperor's new battle station. We also know that the weapon systems of this Death Star are not yet operational. With the Imperial Fleet spread throughout the galaxy in a vain effort to engage us, it is relatively unprotected. But most important of all, we've learned that the Emperor himself is personally overseeing the final stages of the construction of this Death Star. Many Bothans died to give us this information," Mon Mothma said.

Han, Lando and Leia looked at each other while Chewie howled in response as the room erupted in chatter. Luke looked over at Anakin who sat deep in thought. Palpatine was on the death star. Something wasn't right. Palpatine wouldn't put himself out in space like this when they could attack the death star.

Anakin's thoughts were interrupted when Admiral Ackbar stepped up and began to speak. He pointed to the deflector shield. "You can see here the Death Star orbiting the forest Moon of Endor. Although the weapon systems on this Death Star are not yet operational, the Death Star does have a strong defense mechanism. It is protected by an energy shield, which is generated from the nearby forest Moon of Endor. The shield must be deactivated if any attack is to be attempted. Once the shield is down, our cruisers will create a perimeter, while the fighters fly into the superstructure and attempt to knock out the main reactor," he said and the room erupted in a soft murmur. "General Calrissian has volunteered to lead the fighter attack," he finished.

"Good Luck, you're going to need it," Han said to Lando who nodded in thanks.

Luk's eye's remained on his father who hadn't said a word the whole time, he just stared intently at the image of the Death Star. Something wasn't right. Anakin knew it. Palpatine wouldn't move into space like this. Even during the clone wars, he never left Coruscant! There must have been something he wanted to oversee personally.

"We have stolen a small Imperial shuttle. Disguised as a cargo ship, and using a secret Imperial code, a strike team will land on the moon and deactivate the shield generator," General Madine added.

Then it hit Anakin. The very reason that Palpatine was on the Death star. It was a trap. Before anyone else could say a word he stood up catching everyones. Attention. "It's a trap!" he announced.

Mon Mothma looked at him incredulously. "A trap? Commander Skywalker, I must assure you. If it were a trap we would know. Getting this information was not easy. Many people died! This information was stolen. We wouldn't have gotten it at all if the Empire knew we would get it," she said dismissing the notion.

"The Empire wouldn't make it easy for us to get this information when they want to trap us! My gut instinct tells me that this is a trap!" Anakin persisted.

Leia reached up and grabbed his arm. "Anakin, Mon Mothma knows what she's doing, she's been at this longer than we have," she said gently.

"Commander, We cannot act on pure instinct of one man. We must think with a level head," General Madine said also dismissing Anakin's notion.

"What about the instinct of a jedi!" Anakin shouted causing another murmur in the crowds.

"We would love the input of the jedi, however they're all dead," Mon Mothma said.

Anakin raised his chin proudly. "Not all of them. I am a jedi," he said proudly and the murmurs grew louder.

Luke looked up at Anakin sharply. "What are you doing?" he demanded in a whisper.

"No offense commander But the jedi were extinct long before you could pilot an X-wing," General Madine said almost laughing. But Admiral Ackbar looked at Anakin with interest and Mon Mothma narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you saying commander?" Mon Mothma asked.

"What I'm saying is that you all are looking at the hero without fear. I am Anakin Skywalker, Jedi knight. I somehow entered a time warp and ended up twenty two years into the future. I am telling you all that this is a trap. The Emperor wants us all to attack the Death Star. Why do you think he's on it right now? He wants to see us all diminished before his very eyes! I can stop him. Send me to Endor. From there I will find a way aboard the death star and destroy The Emperor and Vader myself!" Anakin said.

The murmurs had grown louder before Mon Mothma quieted them. She walked up to where Anakin was standing and looked at him hard. "I knew Anakin Skywalker. I met him a few times when he would visit Senator Padme Amidala who was a good friend and colleague of mine," she said.

Anakin smirked. "You mean my wife?" he said raising an eyebrow. At this Mon Mothma's eyes widened and then narrowed. Anakin could feel the intent gazes of everyone in the room including Luke, Leia, Han, Lando and Chewie.

"Senator Amidala wasn't married. I would know," Mon Mothma said.

"That's because we married in secret. Tell me how else would I know about your secret meetings with Padme and Bail Organa. I overheard you talking one night when I came to see Padme. You all were becoming worried about the Chancellors emergency powers. Especially his new clone army. You were talking about forming the delegation of 2000 that night. You were extremely against the clone wars. I've fought in them and let me tell you, they weren't pretty. Especially when I got this!" Anakin said and pulled off his black glove showing his mechanical arm.

Mon Mothma's eyes widened at seeing the arm. It was a one of kind and only one person had this specific mechanical limb. "You are the hero without fear!" she said and stepped back. With her words the murmurs grew louder. Leia looked at Anakin with wide eyes speechless. While Han and Lando smirked. Chewie growled that he knew all along.

General Madine spoke up at last. "What do you suppose we do then, Knight Skywalker?" he asked clearly believing Anakin's statement with Mon Mothma's proclamation that Skywalker was telling the truth.

To his statement Anakin grinned. "What I always do. Spring the trap," he said simply. "I will choose who is to go to Endor with me to disable the deflector shield while I manage to get aboard the Death Star to finish off Vader and The emperor. I will comm you and tell you when it's okay to strike," he said.

"And who do you choose to go with you?" Admiral Ackbar asked speaking up. Everyone in the briefing room were silent as the looked at Anakin expectantly. Each one wanted to be one the strike team to Endor.

Anakin grinned. "Well my children for one. Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa," he said and Leia looked at him sharply as Luke stood up. Anakin turned to Leia. "Don't give me that look Leia. You know it to be true, search inside yourself and you will know," he said to her softly.

Leia who was looking at Anakin with wide eyes looked over at Luke who nodded at her. He knew too. But how? Leia had never been told who her real parents were. She had of course heard her father, Bail, talk a lot of Senator Amidala to her, trying to impress upon her that Senator Amidala was an admirable woman and how he knew that she was just like her. Leia turned back to Anakin who only smiled at her and she knew. She knew that he was telling the truth. Slowly she too stood up to stand on the other side of Anakin while Luke took up his left side. "I'm in," she said.

"And who else do you wish to take with you?" Mon Mothma asked.

"Well seeing as it was originally supposed to be Han Solo who would be in charge, I want him to come along as my second in command. As well as Chewbacca. I will require a few of your best fighters. How ever many that can fit in the shuttle," Anakin said.

Mon Mothma, and the rest of the rebellion's leaders all nodded. "As soon as it can be arranged, we will give you clearance," Mon Mothma said.

"I appreciate it," Anakin said.


	13. Arriving on Endor

Anakin once again busied himself with loading a ship, this time it was the stolen imperial shuttle _Tydirium. _Han was over with Lando trying to convince him to take the Falcon. Apparently there were only two men Han trusted to pilot his ship, Lando and Luke, three if you counted Anakin and Lando was the only one not going on the shuttle. Anakin lifted one create of supplies into the shuttle's cargo hold where twelve crates and twenty rebel fighters would all be stuck together. Right now the twenty fighters were being brought over and briefed by General Dodonna. Something Anakin would do himself once they reach Endor. Right now Anakin was letting Dodonna do it.

For the past three days Anakin had been getting the team ready and in the mean time he was bombarded with inquiring rebels. It seemed that every Alliance member wanted to be a part of the hero without fear's team. It didn't make Anakin's job easy. Because he had interviewed and cross checked every alliance member who came up to him. It was very tiering and he found himself wishing that he was just another anonymous alliance member as he had been for the past four years. Luke and Leia didn't have it easy either. They both were bombarded with questions on what it was like to have the hero without fear as their father. Anakin barely had anytime to just sit down with either of his children. All three were busy with their own duties.

"Do you need any help?"

Anakin looked up to spot Leia standing at the shuttle's ramp. She was dressed in the strike team's camouflaged uniform with her hair braided around her head. So much different than how Padme would have dressed. Come to think of it, now that Anakin had really looked at her, she may have Padme's spirit, Padme's eyes and hair color, Leia looked mostly like him and had his temperament at times. Luke was a bit more different. Luke looked like Padme but had his eyes and hair. Luke also reminded Anakin of Padme, he had his mother's temperament. They hardly looked like twins. Anakin shook his head at the thoughts and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, You'd be a great help," he answered and Leia smiled. She had her mothers smile. "You have your mother smile," he told her offhandedly causing Leia to look at him sharply.

"What was she like?" Leia asked as she lifted a crate.

Anakin lifted a larger crate and walked into the shuttle with it followed by Leia. "A lot like you. Smart, compassionate, a born leader, and very beautiful. She was very influential. You know she was the queen of Naboo at the age of fourteen and Very influential Senator in the Republic after that. She was very outspoken and against the clone wars," Anakin said and set down the crate in the back.

Leia sat down her crate next to his. "My father," she paused as she saw Anakin stiffen. "I'm sorry, Bail, he was always telling me about her. During my time in the senate, many people accused me of trying to copy her. I had idolized her," she said.

Anakin smiled. "Padme would have been proud of you," he told her. They walked out of the shuttle to see Luke hurry towards them.

"Hurry, I need something constructive to do, The Banai brothers are hounding me with a thousand questions," Luke said.

Anakin smirked and pointed to the crates. "Help us load these and then we'll hide out in the shuttle until Han and Chewie come aboard with Threepio, Artoo and Arfor. The team should be ready soon enough," he said and used the force to lift another crate into the X-wing. Leia's eyes widened as Luke did the same. Anakin turned to Leia and smiled. "You want to learn how to move objects with the force?" he asked her.

Leia shook her head. "I couldn't. I don't have that power," she said.

"You're wrong, Leia. You're a Skywalker, the force comes naturally for us," Anakin said and walked over to her. "Now close your eyes and imagine the crate to your left," he said and smiled when she closed her eyes. Anakin touched her mind with the force and continued. "Good, Now imagine it lifting from the ground," he instructed. He then looked over to the crate to see it floating in the air. "See, you're doing it!"

Leia opened her eyes sharply and looked over at the crate just in time to see it fall to the floor of the hanger. "Not very good. I couldn't hold it up," she said dismayed.

"You have to concentrate on it. Once you stop thinking that you can't do it, you'll start being able to use the force. Let it flow through you," Anakin told her and moved his floating crate inside the shuttle.

Between the three of them, They had all the crates lined along the shuttles hull acting as benches for the strike team. They sat in the cockpit after that waiting for the rest of their team to show up. Anakin sat in the pilots seat familiarizing himself with the shuttles controls while Luke and Leia sat behind him. They didn't have to wait long for Han, Chewie and the three droids to join them.

"So we see who's piloting this ship, but who's co piloting?" Han said entering the cockpit.

"You are," Anakin said leaning back in his chair. Outside through the cockpits window, Anakin watched as the strike team all boarded the shuttle. As soon as the last person was boarded Anakin shut the ramp. "It's show time. We should be at Endor in a couple of hours so we should all relax," he said.

Han took a seat next to Anakin in the co-pilots seat while Luke and Leia turned their chairs to the back control panels. Anakin pulled back on a lever and the ship lifted from the hanger floor and hovered towards the hanger doors where the pit crew were moving out of the way. Two crew members were waving flashers signaling for them to go. Anakin pulled back on another lever as Han pushed some buttons entering the coordinates of Endor into the computer.

"All systems to go," Han said.

"Copy that," Luke said from the back.

"We're ready," Leia said.

"Alright, remember everyone, follow my lead," Anakin said and the shuttle took off from base. Once they left Zhar's atmosphere, Anakin brought them into hyperdrive. Since Zhar was in the same rim as Endor, it would only take them a couple of hours to get to Endor. Anakin put the ship on auto pilot and stood up. "Come on, It'll be a couple of hours before we reach Endor," he said walking into the back closely followed by Luke and Leia.

Chewie growled at Han. "Yeah, I know. Somethings got him on edge. I'd just like to know what," Han said before getting up to follow the Skywalkers along with Chewie. They walked to the hold where the strike team was situated and leaned in the back behind Anakin who was briefing them.

"I will be with you in the beginning of this mission. But when you are ready to destroy the death stars protective energy shield you will be under General Solo's command. You will all be handling thermal detonators to take over the imperial command center and destroy the energy shield. The empire will be expecting us so we use what surprise we can give them. They will be expecting us to be armed, but they wont be expecting us to be armed with anything other than blasters. Once you are in, make quick work of destroying the shield and capture who you can," Anakin said pacing in front of the team.

One officer in the team raised his hand. He was the same age as Luke and Leia and reminded Anakin of someone. "Sir, Did the jedi use this kind of strategy during the clone wars?" the officer asked.

"No. The jedi were the keepers of peace, we wouldn't use thermal detonators. We relied on the force," Anakin answered him.

"Then why are you suggesting thermal Detonators?" another officer spoke up.

Anakin grinned. "I'm not the typical jedi," he said and when more questions arose, Anakin held up his hand. "No, no more question about the jedi. If you have a question about the mission, then by all means speak up," he said sternly.

"How long do you expect it to take us?" Another officer asked.

"However long it takes," Anakin said and motioned for Han to come forward. "Solo, What's your plan? You know the Empires military procedure on certain matters, brief your team," he commanded.

Han stepped forward. "Right, well for one we need to look at all the possible situations and go from there," he said stepping forward.

Anakin only half listened as Han went over the basic military procedures. His mind was elsewhere as he felt a massive headache coming on. Unconsciously he pressed a hand to his temple before shaking his head. As everyone's attention was focused on Han, Anakin took the opportunity to slip back into the cockpit.

Luke watched his father leave the hold and tapped Leia's shoulder. When she looked at him, he nodded his head in the direction of Anakin's retreating back. Leia nodded and the two of them followed Anakin into the cockpit.

Anakin sat down in the pilots chair and checked the controls. Outside the windshield of the cockpit the stars streaked by in white streaks as the shuttle moved in hyperspace. The headache got even worse and Anakin's hand slipped on one of the levers pressing it sideways which made the ship jerk sideways. It was happening again. It hadn't happened in a long time. Not since he had received the scar on the side of his face. After a few moments he sensed that he wasn't alone. Closing his eyes he focused on the force signature or rather signatures. Two bright blue signatures appeared in his mind and he knew who it was that had come up behind him. "Go ahead and speak what's on your mind, you two," he said not turning around to face Luke and Leia.

Both Skywalker twins moved to stand to Anakin's sides. "Are you alright," Leia asked. She and Luke had seen Anakin's slight mishap and how his whole body just shook. Something wasn't right.

"I'm fine," Anakin said not looking up at either twin. He just focused on the controls.

"You're lying," Luke said making Anakin look at him sternly. "What's happening to you? Was Vader's revelation on Bespin too much for you to handle because I think you're starting to crack," he said.

Leia looked between the two of them. "What revelation?" she asked. Clearly something more happened on Bespin beside Luke loosing a hand.

Luke looked at Leia before looking at Anakin in askance. He wondered how he would word this to Leia. In his mind he searched for the right words until he found a variation of the truth. "Vader's real identity," Luke said and Anakin shot Luke a stern look. Telling him that he'll kill him if he uttered one more word.

"True identity?" Leia said in askance.

Luke nodded. "Vader was once a jedi and a close personal friend to Father, you could say that they were as close as brothers before Vader turned to the dark side, betraying and murdering Father," he said and he heard Anakin's mental sighs.

To say that Leia was shocked would be an understatement. Vader was her fathers _friend! _That's like saying that the emperor was a father figure to her father! She must have said those words out loud because Anakin palled at the last part. "No!" she said as the realization hit her.

"I was betrayed Leia," Anakin said softly.

Suddenly Luke's eyes grew as a thought came to him. "Do you think that the Emperor knows you're here and will be coming after him?" he asked Anakin.

Anakin shook his head. "It's hard to say," he then closed his eyes and reached out through the force. Suddenly he opened his eyes. "No. Vader didn't tell him. He knows that a powerful jedi has returned, he just doesn't know it's me. Time travel isn't exactly something that is believed to exist, even the jedi don't believe it's possible."

"That doesn't sound like Vader," Leia said disbelievingly.

Anakin leaned in closer to her. "Leia, what do you know about Vader? You must know more than I. I mean, when a jedi turns to the dark side, it's like he or she becomes another person entirely," he said.

Leia regarded him for a moment. "I know that he strikes fear in everyone. He'll kill you for any minor or significant mistake. He's ruthless. He leaves no survivors. He's sadistic and vary powerful. Why?" she said.

"What do you know of his and Palpatine's partnership?" Anakin pressed.

"What partnership? Vader is just the emperors lapdog. Vader does his masters bidding. It's like he's on some sort of leash," Leia said.

To hers and Luke's surprise Anakin burst out laughing. Neither twin could find what was so funny. They just looked at their father with concern until he stopped laughing. "To think that one born into slavery would choose slavery in the end after knowing blissful years of utter freedom. Oh the irony!" he said scornfully.

Leia leaned into Luke. "Is he alright?" she whispered.

Luke shook his head. "I don't think so. I'm worried about his mental state," he whispered back.

"You know that I can hear you," Anakin said frowning. He then attempted to work the ships controls but the pain in his head intensified again and he pressed his fingers to his temple. "Luke, take over for me, I'm going to see if I can lay down somewhere," he said standing up.

"What's wrong?" both twins asked.

"Nothing, just a bit of a headache that's all," Anakin said and left leaving Luke and Leia alone. On his way to the back, he passed Han and Chewbacca. "Solo, notify me when we reach Endor," he commanded and walked away before Han could utter a word. He found a crew bunk bed in the back and sat down on the bed. He then pulled out a vial of blue liquid from his cloak. He knew that the pain would go away after he took this. Tatooine did have it's perks. One being the many drug dealers that you would need. Sighing, he popped the top and downed the blue liquid.

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Han, Luke, Leia, Chewie, Threepio, Artoo and Arfor all looked out the cockpit window at the forest moon of Endor protected by a super star destroyer, the Executer and behind it the half complete death star.

"If they don't go for this, we're gonna have to get outta here pretty quick," Han said suddenly unsure as he gazed at the star destroyer.

Chewie growled his agreement.

Luke and Leia just looked at each other. One thing was on their minds. Anakin and his mental health. Somehow neither of them thought that he should confront Vader and the emperor at this time.

"We have you on our screen now. Please identify," a voice said from the intercom.

Han leaned over to the intercom. "Shuttle Tydirium requesting deactivation of the deflector shield," he said.

"Shuttle Tydirium, transmit the clearance code for shield passage," the voice over the intercom said.

Han punched in some numbers and letters into the computer and sent them. "Transmission commencing," he said into the intercom.

Luke's eyes widened as he sensed something. "Vader's on that ship," he said.

"Now don't get jittery, Luke. There are a lot of command ships. Keep your distance though, Chewie, but don't look like you're trying to keep your distance," Han said. Chewie growled. "I don't know fly casual," he replied to the wookiee.

"I'm endangering the mission, I shouldn't have come," Luke said. He knew that Vader could sense him through the force. Vader would find them in moments because of him. They wouldn't be able to take the empire by surprise as they planned. They would loose before the ambush.

"It's your imagination, kid. Come on. Let's keep a little optimism here," Han said dismissively.

"Of course Vader can sense us. It'd be foolish not to believe that a force sensitive could sense other force sensitives," Anakin said coming into the cockpit.

Leia looked at Anakin carefully. He didn't look any better than when he left. Only his eyes seemed to be more glossy than they were before. She knew that something wasn't right. She also knew that Anakin would deny that something was wrong. She would have to find an alternative to finding out what was up with him.

"Shuttle Tydirium, deactivation of the shield will commence immediately. Follow your present course," The voice over the intercom said interrupting everyone's thoughts.

"Find a place to land where the empire wouldn't know where to look for us, Solo," Anakin commanded.

"How about nice little forest," Han said giving Anakin a cheeky grin.

Anakin frowned. If that was Solo's idea of a joke, then obviously he was loosing his skill. "Just land somewhere," he said.

"Isn't the whole moon a forest?" Threepio asked clearly not getting that Han was joking.

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They unloaded the shuttle and trekked through the dense forest with the strike teak carrying the creates full of their supplies. Anakin who seemed to be back to himself lead the group through the forest. His black cloak making him stand out in the large green space. To the strike team, he was the hero without fear, everything a jedi was supposed to be. But Luke and Leia knew that something was wrong with him. Han wasn't oblivious either, he just chose to ignore it. It was probably just stress. Even a jedi had a right to be stressed out.

Anakin led them up a steep hill and could hear the strike team complaining about handling the heavy crates they were carrying. Suddenly he spotted clones wandering in the valley below. Parked armed swoop bikes were behind the troopers. Anakin motioned with his hands behind him before dropping to the ground. Luke, Leia and Han dropped to his side as he watched the clones peer about before mounting their swoop bikes.

"Should we try and go around?" Leia asked.

"No. Once they realize that no one is in the valley they'll leave," Anakin said eying the clones.

But the clones didn't just leave as Anakin anticipated. After about fifteen minutes Anakin held up his right gloved hand before rising. "Stay put," he said jumping on a large piece of bark and slid down the hill. Anakin flipped off of the bark and ignited his single bladed lightsaber taking the clones by surprise. "Miss me boys," he said taking out the five clones that stood watch. The clones now lay on the ground mutilated and dead. Anakin looked around at them breathing heavily. It happened again. He didn't remember doing it. He didn't remember killing the clones. He must have because he was the only one in the clearing. His lightsaber was in his hand and ignited. He must have killed them. But he couldn't remember doing it. Moments later he was joined by Leia, Luke, Han and Chewie as the strike team and the droids lagged behind. Luke and Leia looked at Anakin, worry clear on their faces as they also looked at the bodies of the clones.

"You know, we could have waited for the them to move along," Han said and Chewie growled his agreement.

"We should move along," Anakin said as the strike team joined them.

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They stopped in a deserted clearing eighty miles away from the dead clones. "This should be alright to set up camp," Anakin said. He went straight over to where the strike team set down the supplies and started emptying the first crate which had the tents. "Han, take Luke, Leia and Chewie and scout the area," Anakin ordered.

"Right, boss," Han said. "Come on Chewie," he said and Chewie nodded in agreement.

Luke and Leia walked up to Anakin. "Are you sure you're okay?" Luke asked.

"For the billionth time, I'm fine!" Anakin said getting annoyed.

"You know you can talk to us if something is bothering you," Leia added.

"Just go with Han and scout the area!"

Luke nodded to his twin and they walked away discussing between themselves what they would do with Anakin.

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Luke and Leia approached where Han and Chewie were hiding in the bush. Two storm troopers were taking a rest not that far from where they were hiding. Han turned to them once they knelt down in the bushes next to Han.

"Chewie and I will take care of this. You stay here," Han said moving into the clearing.

"Quietly, there might be more of them out there," Luke told him.

Han looked at him, "Hey it's me," he said and moved further into the clearing.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Leia muttered and Luke shared a look with her. Han was bound to alert the other scouts of their presence. Both twins winced as they heard a twig break and looked over into the clearing in time to see Han thrown against a tree by a storm trooper.

"Go, get some help!" one of the troopers said to his companion and the other jumped on his swoop bike and headed off but Chewie drew his crossbow and shot the other down making him crash into a tree. Han recovered from being knocked into a tree and jumped the remaining storm trooper starting a scuffle.

"Great!" Luke said sarcastically and jumped from the bushes to help Han followed by Leia who drew her blaster.

Leia spotted two more storm troopers off to the side with one more empty bike. She tapped Luke's shoulder and pointed in their direction as the two storm troopers sped off. Leia rushed over to the empty swoop bike and jumped on it despite Luke calling her to wait. Luke jumped on the other empty swoop bike and sped off after her.

"Quick! Jam their comlink. Center switch!" Luke called from Leia's side as they sped after the storm troopers narrowly missing trees at 200 miles an hour. Leia jammed their comlink as Luke fired at the storm troopers.

"Move closer," Luke called over to Leia and they both accelerated their bikes closing the gap as the two storm troopers recklessly veered through a narrow gap in the trees. One of the bikes scraped a tree, slowing the scout. "Get alongside that one!" Luke instructed to Leia.

Leia pulled her swoop bike up so close to the scout's bike that their steering vanes scraped noisily. Her adopted father used to take her out in his speeder when she was a kid and even taught her how to steer, but Leia was no pilot. After a while, Leia stopped piloting her father's-no- Bail's speeder through the cities of Alderaan. Leia hadn't piloted in years and even then she never raced anyone. She never even thought she had half the skill that Luke and Anakin had. But as she raced through the forest on the imperial swoop bike, she felt a sort of exhilaration in it. She discovered that it wasn't a matter of skill, but pure instinct. Leia looked over to the side where Luke was racing to see Luke stand up on his swoop bike.

Luke leaped from his bike to the back of the other storm trooper's, grabbed the storm trooper around the neck, and flipped him off the bike, into a thick tree trunk. Luke gained control of the bike and followed Leia, who had pulled ahead. They tore off after the remaining scout. He too found the chase to be a bit exhilarating. He always did since he was just a small boy. Back then it was just a race between friends but now was different and his races in his youth had helped to prepare him for this war.

The speeding chase passed two more storm troopers. Those two swung into pursuit, chasing Luke and Leia, firing away with their laser cannon. The two Rebels looked behind them just as Luke's bike took a glancing hit. "Keep on that one! I'll take these two!" Luke called after Leia.

With Leia shooting ahead, Luke suddenly slammed his steering vanes into the braking mode. Luke's bike was a blur to the two pursuing troopers as they zip by him on either side. Luke slammed his swoop bike into forward and started firing away, having switched places with his pursuers in a manner of seconds. Luke's aim was good and one scout's bike was blasted out of control. It exploded against a tree trunk. The trooper's cohort took one glance back at the flash and shifted into turbo drive, going even faster. Luke kept on his tail

Far ahead, Leia and the first scout were doing a high speed slalom through the death-dealing trunks. Now Leia aimed her bike skyward and rose out of sight. The scout turned in confusion, unable to see his pursuer. Suddenly, Leia dove down upon him from above, cannon blasting. The scout's bike took a glancing hit. Leia moved in alongside him. The scout eyed her beside him, reached down, and pulled out a blaster. Before Leia could react, the scout had blasted her bike, sending it out of control. Leia dove off as her bike exploded against a tree. The happy trooper looked back at the explosion. But when he turned forward again, he was on a collision course with a giant fallen tree. He hit his brakes to no avail and disappeared in a conflagration.

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Han and Chewie reached back at the camp alone making Anakin look up to them. Anakin stood up from his spot by his tent and approached them. "Where's Luke and Leia?" he demanded.

Han looked wearily at him before looking back from where he came from. "Ah, you see, we had to take out some imperial scum and they jumped on two swoop bikes and chased after the remaining storm troopers," he said.

"How many were there?" Anakin demanded. He couldn't help but worry about Luke and Leia. Even if they may have inherited his skill at piloting. He couldn't help but worry if they would be captured by the empire. A feeling a dread over came him at that thought.

"Just two that I know of," Han said.

Two? There had to be more. Clones traveled in packs. "If they're not back soon, we're going to go searching for them," Anakin said.

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A/N: I know most of you out there believe that Leia is the spitting image of Padme and Luke of Anakin and I did too at first. But I had been doing some picture comparisons and found that not to be true. Leia may have Padme's eyes and hair, but other than that, she looks like Anakin(you have to look at her after ANH). Luke is the same way, he has Anakin's hair and eyes, but he looks like Padme.

Also, you may be wondering what's wrong with Anakin. Will he turn to the dark side anyway? Hmmm, well maybe he will maybe he wont. You wont really know what's up with him until he returns to his own time. You may hate me for doing some things to his character in the story, but you'll have to trust me.

Okay, I'm going to start writing the next chapter.

Charlie.


	14. The Ewoks

Luke and the last remaining storm trooper continued their weaving chase through the trees. Luke moved up closer. The Strom trooper responded by slamming his bike into Luke's. A fallen tree formed a bridge across their path. The storm trooper zipped under. Luke went over the top and crashed his bike down on the storm trooper's. Both riders looked ahead, a wide trunk loomed directly in Luke's path, but the storm trooper's bike beside him made it almost impossible for him to avoid it. Luke banked with all his might, leaning almost horizontal over the storm trooper's bike, and was able to make it by, just clipping the tree. When he straightened, he and the storm trooper discovered that their two bikes locked front vanes and were moving as one.

Another big tree loomed in Luke's path. He reacted instinctively and dove off his bike. The two bikes came apart a second before Luke's exploded against a tree. The storm trooper swooped out and circled back to find Luke. Luke rose from the undergrowth as the storm trooper bore down on him and opened fire with his laser cannon. Luke ignited his lightsaber and began deflecting the bolts. The storm trooper's bike kept coming and it appeared that in a second it would cut Luke in half. At the last instant, Luke stepped aside and chopped off the bike's control vanes with one mighty slash. The storm trooper's bike began to shudder, then, pitched and rolled, up to slam directly into a tree in a giant ball of fire.

Luke looked over at the smoldering remains as he clipped his lightsaber back on his belt. Reaching out with the force, he tried to sense Leia, but she was too far away. Figuring that she was back at the camp, he made his way out of the foliage. It was hard to judge from which direction he had come, so he reached out with the force and found the direction in which he had come. Knowing that the others would be waiting for him, he started off in that direction, not stopping until he reached the camp.

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Anakin paced back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back. Neither Luke or Leia had reported back yet. It was already half an hour since they had went chasing after the clones. They weren't even answering their comlinks. Where in the name of the sith were they? Why weren't they answering their comlinks? Anakin was pretty sure he was wearing out the grass in the path he was pacing in. But he didn't care. All he cared about right now was his children's safety. Yes they certainly inherited his impulsiveness when in battle. It wasn't that long ago when Anakin had ran headlong impulsively to battle Count Dooku, loosing his arm in the process. Maybe that's what had him so worried. He wanted Luke and Leia to not only be safe, but to remain in one piece. It was bad enough that Luke had lost his hand already. But any more, and he'd have to kill the person who did it to his child.

"Will you stop pacing already, you're giving me a headache!" Han cut in from the spot where he sat.

Anakin turned to him seeing how casually he sat seeming to not be worried at all. "Aren't you worried?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course I'm worried. But I also know Luke and Leia. Their quite capable of taking care of themselves you know. They're not helpless," Han said and flipped his jagged dagger back into it's hilt. He had just finished carving some sort of object out of a piece of wood. He stood up and replaced the dagger into his boot.

At that moment Artoo and Arfor started beeping wildly. Threepio translated for them. "Oh, Master Anakin, General Solo. Someones coming!" the golden droid said waving his arms animatedly.

Han, Chewie and the rest of the strike team raised their weapons waiting for the intruder to come. In a matter of minutes, Luke appeared out of the foliage to find all the weapons trained on him. Luke, too tired to care just plopped down on a boulder taking a few deep breaths. Everyone lowered their weapons as they realized who it was that entered the camp.

"Luke! Where's Leia?" Anakin said as he walked over to where Luke sat.

Luke looked up at Anakin with concern on his face making Anakin fear the worst. "She's not back yet?" he asked.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at Luke. "She was supposed to come back with you," he said. Now he was upset. And some of it was directed at Luke.

Luke looked startled. "We got separated," he told them. He, Anakin and Han shared a grim look.

"We should go look for her now," Han said clipping his blaster to his belt.

Anakin checked to make sure his lightsabers were secure on his belt before turning to the squad leader. "Guard the camp. We'll com if we need you," he said before turning to Luke. "Show me where you got separated," he said and strode from the camp with Luke falling in step with him. Han, Chewie and the three droids followed behind.

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Leia lay face down in the bush from where she landed after diving off of the swoop bike. A furry face with huge black eyes appeared from behind the fallen log at Leia's side. The face tilted to the side and looked at Leia in confusion before prodding Leia with his spear. Leia groaned. Startled the three foot high furry creature stepped back and prodded Leia with it's spear again. Leia sat up abruptly and stared at the creature before looking around at her surroundings. Nothing but trees and foliage surrounded her. She looked down at herself to find her clothes torn. She was bruised and disheveled. The creature backed off holding his spear in a defensive position before poking Leia again.

"Cut it out!" Leia said and stood up. The creature backed up again and aimed his spear at Leia. "I'm not going to hurt you" she said to the furry creature. She then looked around again and spotted the charred remains of the swoop bike and sat down on the fallen log. "Well, looks like I'm stuck here. Trouble is, I don't know where here is," she muttered to herself. She then looked over at the watchful creature and patted the spot next to her on the log. "Well, maybe you can help me. Come on, sit down," she said. The creature just looked at her and growled like a puppy. "I promise I won't hurt you. Now come here," she persisted. The creature growled and squeaked at her. "All right. You want something to eat?" she asked and took out a scrap of food from her pocket and held it out to the creature who hesitantly took it, sniffed it and ate it. Leia reached up and took of her helmet startling the creature who backed off and pointed his spear at her again. Leia looked over at the creature again in wonderment. "Look, it's a hat. It's not gonna hurt you. Look. You're a jittery little thing, aren't you?" she said holding out the helmet to it. The creature came back up to her and sniffed the hat.

Suddenly the creatures ears perked up and he sniffed the air muttering a warning in some strange language. Suddenly a blaster emerged out of the foliage and blasted at Leia hitting the log besides her. Leia jumped behind the log and the creature rolled underneath the log for cover. Leia pulled out her own blaster and held it at ready. Suddenly a blaster appeared at the side of her face. Leia turned to see a storm trooper standing above her.

"Freeze! Come on, get up!" the storm trooper said. Leia slowly stood up and handed over her blaster and the storm trooper turned to his companion. "Go get your ride and take her back to base," he commanded.

"Yes sir," the second storm trooper said.

Suddenly the creature hit the storm trooper holding his blaster to Leia in the leg with his spear making the storm trooper jump. Leia took this opportunity to knock the storm trooper out with a large branch. She took her blaster back and fired at the escaping storm trooper who was on his swoop bike making the storm trooper to crash into the second swoop bike creating an explosion. The forest was quiet once more and the creature came out from under the log and regarded Leia with new respect. He mumbled his awe. Leia hurried over, looking around all the time, and motioned the chubby little creature into the dense foliage.

"Come on, let's get outta here," she said and took the creatures hand leaving into the foliage, but the creature mumbled excitedly and pulled her in another direction.

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Anakin, Luke, Han, Chewie and the three droids spread out in the clearing where Leia had crash landed. Luke and Anakin were at one end while Han and Chewie were at another. The two astromech droids had their scanners out, both a separate ends of the clearing with Threepio standing in the middle. Luke bent down and picked up Leia's helmet and showed it to Anakin. Both shared a look of concern.

"Luke! Anakin! I found something!" Han called from the other side of the clearing. Both Skywalkers rushed over to where Han was standing to see the smoldering remains of two swoop bikes and one storm trooper.

"There's another recked swoop bike back there and we found this," Luke said tossing Leia's helmet to Han.

Anakin turned to his son and narrowed his eyes at him. "She better be alright," he warned pointing a finger at him. Luke looked startled at him.

"I'm afraid that neither Artoo or Arfor can sense the princess anywhere," Threepio said.

Suddenly Chewie sniffed the air and growled rushing out of the clearing. Han looked after the giant wookiee. "What, Chewie? What? Chewie!" he called rushing after Chewie. Luke, Anakin and the droids followed.

They arrived in a clearing where a tall stake stood in the middle with a dead animal hanging from it. "Hey, I don't get it," Han said eying the dead animal. "Nah, it's just a dead animal, Chewie," he added.

Anakin threw his hands up in the air. "Great! Way to go, thinking with your stomach Chewbacca!" he said sarcastically in annoyance.

Chewie couldn't resist the appealing dead animal and reached for it. "Chewie, wa-wait! Don't!" Luke called but it was too late, Chewie had already pulled the animal off the steak and suddenly they found themselves hanging in a net high in the air.

"Thank you Chewbacca!" Anakin said sarcastically. Chewie growled his regret to him. "Well if you would have used your head and not your stomach, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Anakin nearly shouted at him at the same time that Han shouted, "Nice work. Great, Chewie! Great! Always thinking with your stomach!"

"Will you take it easy! Let's just figure out a way to get out of this thing," Luke said and tried to free an arm. "Han can you reach my lightsaber?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," Han said reaching for Luke's lightsaber in the meantime turning the net around in the air.

Anakin rolled his eyes and called his single bladed lightsaber into his right hand. He ignited the blade and cut the net at the top which made the net drop. He was the only one who landed on his feet as the others landed in a heap on the ground. Anakin calmly hooked his lightsaber back on his belt and as the others got up, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by three foot tall furry creatures all holding primitive weapons at them.

"Well now we know who set the trap," Han commented.

Anakin kept his hand near his lightsabers ready to use one if need be. He looked around at the creatures with narrowed eyes as Luke Han and Chewie attempted to stand but found spears poked in their faces.

Han grabbed the spear pointing in his face and jerked it. "Wha--? Hey! Point that thing someplace else!" she said roughly. But the creature holding the spear persisted in poking it in Han's face. "Hey! What did I say?!" he said angrily grabbing for his blaster.

"Han, don't. It'll be all right," Luke said calmly.

Just as the creatures were going to confiscate their weapons, Threepio sat up making the creature back off and start bowing and chanting. Chewie barked in confusion scratching his head looking from the creatures to his companions.

"Do you know what they're saying Threepio?" Anakin asked as Threepio talked to the creatures.

Threepio looked at Anakin. "Oh yes sir! Remember that I am fluent in over six million forms of communication," he said.

"Yes, yes, I know, I built you, I should know!" Anakin said getting annoyed.

"What are you telling them?" Han asked as Threepio muttered to the creatures.

"Hello, I think... I could be mistaken. They're using a very primitive dialect. But I do believe they think I am some sort of god," Threepio said.

Chewie braked his amusement as Artoo and Arfor beeped in amusement. "Luke and Han shared a 'what next' look while Anakin shook his head, amused, but refusing to show it.

Han turned to the golden droid. "Well, why don't you use your divine influence and get us out of this?" he suggested.

Threepio looked at Han incredulously. "I beg your pardon, General Solo, but that just wouldn't be proper," he said.

"Proper?" Han demanded incredulously.

"It's against my programming to impersonate a deity," Threepio said simply. Luke hid his chuckling behind his right black gloved hand.

Han turned to Anakin sharply. "What in siths name were you thinking when your programed this thing?" he demanded pointing to the golden droid.

"First of all I was nine, second of all, I built him for my mother who despite being a slave was proper and dignified," Anakin defended himself and the droid.

"Threepio, go against your programing for once and do as I tell you," Anakin ordered.

"But Master Anakin, I'm not programed for such a task!" the droid protested.

"I know very well what you were programed for, I built you! Now I'm ordering you to impersonate a deity and get us out of this mess," Anakin said.

"Yes, Master Anakin," Threepio said obediently and began chatting with the creatures. He then looked up at Anakin. "Sir! They say that they have a person at their camp matching the princess's description!" he said.

"Well tell them to take us to their camp!" Anakin ordered.

"Yes, sir," Threepio said and started chatting with the creatures again.

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The creatures or Ewoks carried Threepo in a wooden chair chanting into their camp with Anakin, Luke, Han, Chewie and the two astromech droids following. They followed the Ewoks through a darker part of the forest until they reached a settlement up in the trees. All the way to the Ewok village Anakin memorized the trail and calculated how far away the village was from their camp. Anakin had plans of moving the camp to this village. Luke and Han looked up from the lower huts up into the trees where walkways and more huts were built. Chewie growled something about finding that this village was oddly like his home planet.

The Ewoks set Threepio down up on a raised level so that he could look over them. Luke leaned closer to his father. "What do you think? You think this is a good idea?" he asked.

"I'm going to contact the others and give them instruction to come here. This is the perfect place to hide out while we wait for the right moment to strike," Anakin said fingering his comlink.

"Right, I was thinking about the same thing," Luke said nodding.

Han stood with his hand on his hip by his blaster as he eyed his surroundings. He leaned closer to Chewie. "This seems cozy," he said.

Suddenly the Ewoks all began their excited mummers and buzzing as a figure emerged from one of the huts. Anakin looked over and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Leia. "Leia!" he called getting her attention. She looked over as Anakin made his way over to her in long quick steps closely followed by Luke. Anakin pulled Leia close in an embrace which she returned. "Thank the force, you're safe!" he said stroking her hair which fell down her back in loose waves.

"I had a couple of close calls with the storm troopers, but I pulled out okay," Leia said stepping out of his arms in time to be embraced by Han who picked her up and twirled her around before kissing her.

"You had us all worried _Princess_," Han told her.

"I'm fine as you can see, just a few bumps and scrapes, that's all," Leia assured him.

"We found your swoop bike, what happened?" Luke asked taking his turn in embracing Leia.

"That storm trooper I was chasing pulled out a blaster at the bike I was chasing him on making it explode. Luckily I jumped off of it in time," she said and caught the worried expression on Anakin's face. "Don't worry I'm fine, better than the storm trooper who fired at me," she assured him.

"He's dead?" Anakin asked and Leia nodded.

"He crashed into a tree soon after my bike exploded," Leia told him.

"Next time you go chasing after imperials in a high speed chase on a swoop bike, make sure that you inform someone of where you're headed," Anakin said making Leia smirk.

"Yes, Dad," she said half sarcastically making Anakin smirk as well. She defenantly didn't get that smirk from Padme.


	15. End of an Empire

Anakin sat with Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie in the Ewok village square late at night. The strike team had arrived just before nightfall with all of their supplies although some of them had complained about carrying the heavy crates full of supplies through the thick forest. But the commander of the strike team, Luke's second in command of rogue squadron, Wedge Antilles had complemented the gang on finding the Ewok village.

"It'll be hard for the empire to find us here," Wedge had said to Anakin earlier when the strike team had arrived.

Wedge, one of Luke's trusted friends in the rebellion, had been given a special task by Anakin. When Anakin had pitched the task to wedge, he was horrified that Anakin had asked it of him. But Anakin knew what he was doing. Even if were to cause him harm. He knew what he was doing. It was needed if they were to overthrow the empire.

Anakin leaned in closer to Wedge, "Did you find it?" he asked in a whisper.

Wedge nodded still horrified that one of the greatest jedi that had lived was asking this of him. No normal jedi would ask him of this. No normal jedi would even do what Anakin was about to do. Anakin was simply crazy. He had lost it. "Yeah. I still don't get what you hope to accomplish by this," he said.

Anakin didn't look at him, he just watched as Luke and Leia were busy with the rest of the camp. They wouldn't even know that he had left. "Take me to it," he ordered. He left no room for a debate on the matter. There was no way that anyone could stop him from doing this. Wedge knew this and he was still horrified.

Wedge lead Anakin out of the Ewok village unnoticed by anyone else and into a denser part of the forest. The denser it got, Anakin could feel the air grow colder. He struggled to even move closer to it. But he moved on anyway. The closer they got, the more Anakin felt as if he was being torn apart. He was loosing the ability to connect and feel the force more and more. He still pressed on. The pain he was experiencing was going to be worth it. In the end it was going to be worth it. Finally they came to a clearing in the forest and found small, furry salamander-like creatures no larger than 50 centimeters long on every branch on every tree around them. Their long claws were hidden within the trees digging deep into the core of the branch they were clinging to. Anakin staggered back clutching his chest as he felt as if it were being torn apart. Wedge was there to steady him.

"You don't have to do this," Wedge said hoping that he could take the jedi away from these dreadful creatures. But Anakin would have none of it.

Anakin shoved Wedge away as he collected himself. Staggering, he walked up to one of the creatures and pulled out an large empty syringe. In one stroke, he carefully poked the creature with the needle extracting the blood of the creature. When he was done he hid the syringe in his utility belt and staggered away from the creature. This time he let wedge support him as they left the clearing.

That was hours ago and Anakin still had the creatures blood. It will come in handy vary soon. Anakin tuned back into the show that Threepio was giving the Ewoks, telling them a very animated story about their adventures. Anakin wished that Threepio could tell _his_ stories. Threepio could tell Luke and Leia about him and Padme. Oh, Padme. How he missed her and couldn't wait to get back to her. He longed to tangle his hands in her silky chocolate curls. He longed for the scent of her perfume. To tease her about something or other. To hear her laugh, see her smile. How he had lived these past for years without her, he didn't know. She was his lifeline. She completed him in every way. She understood him when no one else had. The only thing that kept him going after Vader's revelation, was the thought of returning to her. He refused to let her die this time around. He will not be the cause of her death. He loved her too much for that.

To his left, Leia leaned into Han who put his arms around her protectively. To his right Luke sat, fully alert and ready for the task at hand. The entire strike team was ready at will. Yes, in a couple hours time, they would strike catching the empire off guard at their weakest spot in the shift change.

Suddenly Threepio ended his story telling and the Ewoks jumped up in celebration. The chief ewok had stood up making a huge speech. Threepio looked over to where the rebels all sat. "Wonderful! We are now a part of the tribe!" he declared making Anakin smile.

A thought occurred to Anakin and he stood up. "Threepio, ask them if they know where the back bunker to the imperial base is," he ordered.

"I'm not sure if they would know what I was asking them Sir," Threepio said.

"Threepio, just do it," Anakin ordered. He watched as Threepio turned to the chief elder and asked the question. The chief elder responded in what Anakin hoped was a positive and Threepio turned back to Anakin.

"Sir, he says that he's sending Wicket and Teebo to guide us to our destination," Threepio said.

"Good," Anakin said. "We leave now," he finished.

The rest of the strike team stood up and gathered their weapons along with the thermal detonators. Luke and Anakin were the only ones who didn't grab a thermal detonator. This was it. The defining moment where the war would end. Each rebel hoped that the end would be in their favor. Neither one gave their hopes up. But Anakin was determined. This would be the night where Vader and Sidious would meet their end. The oppression of the sith would end here. No. Failure was not an option. Anakin will not fail this time.

----------------------------------------------------

Anakin, Luke, Han, Leia and Chewie crouched in the foliage looking at the bunker that leads into the generator. Four Imperial troopers, their swoop bikes parked nearby, kept watch over the bunker entrance. The entire strike team were crouched behind them in the foliage. Chewie growled an observation. Han leaned closer to Anakin.

"Back door, huh? Good idea," Han said.

Anakin smirked. "I know," he said smugly.

"Still, it's only a few guards. This shouldn't be too much trouble," Han said.

"Well, it only takes one to sound the alarm," Leia told him.

"Then we'll do it real quiet like. Right Anakin," Han said.

"Luke and I will take care of the guards," Anakin commanded.

"I don't sense Vader," Luke commented looking at Anakin.

"That's because he's with Sidious on the death star," Anakin said and then turned to Han. "Solo, I'm trusting you with one more important mission," he said.

"What would that be?" Han asked suspiciously.

"Keep a watchful eye on my daughter. Make sure no harm comes to her while I'm on the death star," Anakin commanded.

Leia looked at him incredulously. "I can take care of myself, you know," she said.

Anakin ignored her comment and continued explaining the plan. "Luke will come with me on the death star and together we'll defeat the sith," he said.

"I'm coming with you," Leia told him.

Anakin turned to her. "No, you're not. You're staying with Solo," he told her.

"If Luke goes, I go," Leia said defiantly.

"No, Leia. I can't stop Sidious if I'm protecting you. You have to stay here where I know you'll be safe," Anakin told her sternly.

"I don't need your protecting. I've done fine without you for twenty four years. I can help you stop Palpatine," Leia told him flatly.

"Only a trained jedi can defeat a sith. You're neither Leia, you're staying here. You have just as important of a job down here as I do up there. Without the shield down, the alliance can't destroy the death star," Anakin said flatly.

Leia knew that he was right. She didn't like it, but he was right. "Fine, but you two better come back in one piece," she conceded.

Anakin nodded and stood up pulling his hood over his face indicating that Luke do the same. Together both Skywalker men slowly walked over to the clearing and approached the storm troopers keeping guard.

"Halt! Don't move," the first storm trooper said pointing his blaster at Anakin. All four storm troopers had their blaster pointed in their direction. Anakin and Luke took out their single bladed lightsabers and ignited them. "Jedi, kill them," the first storm trooper commanded. The storm troopers opened fire at them. Luke and Anakin deflected their blasted advancing on the storm troopers eventually killing them one by one leaving the bunker free and clear.

Anakin rushed over to the bunker doors. And looked at the keys to open the doors. Luke was instantly at his side. "Think you can break the code to get in?" Luke asked.

"Simple mathematics. I've broken many of these. It used to be a little hobby of mine," Anakin said dismissively punching in a few different codes. In a matter of minutes he had the code broken and the doors open. He motioned for the others to hurry up and get inside. The strike team all hurried inside before Luke and Anakin joined them.

"Remember, take the prisoners. Be quick with it," Anakin ordered going in a separate direction as the others. Luke followed closely behind.

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The large rebel fleet waited in space outside the orbit of Zhar. The Millennium Falcon at the lead alongside Admiral Ackbar's large star ship. Suddenly each star ship disappeared into hyperspace heading toward Endor. The time to act was now coming. The rebel fleet had received word from Anakin Skywalker to leave Zhars orbit, the death stars deflector shield will be disabled very soon.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Leia and Han lead the strike team through the bunker with Chewie at their side. The bunker was deathly quiet. Too quiet. Never the less the team continued through the bunker coming to a stop at large blast shielded doors. "In here," Leia said feeling with the force that this is where they were supposed to be.

"Alright team, detonators at ready!" Han said hitting the buttons to open the doors. Surprisingly they opened at the first touch. "Well that was too easy," Han said stepping into the room. The whole strike team aimed their blasters at the imperial technicians who worked on the shield generators. The lead technician smirked at them.

"Rebel scum, we were waiting for you to show up," he said.

"We know," Han said smirking and the technician frowned. He was not expecting this. But his smirk returned as the rebels were surrounded by storm troopers.

"Ah, right on time, arrest them!" the technician ordered.

"I don't think that is a good idea," Leia said pulling out a thermal detonator. She clicked a button and the detonator began speedily counting down. All the technicians palled as the rest of the rebels followed suit. "We're already one step ahead of you," Leia said.

"I'd give up while you're still alive," Han said and Chewie growled his agreement.

"You'll never get away with this Princess. It's a good thing your father is dead, he'll never have to bear the pain of knowing his daughter was executed for treason. Then again that's too bad. The emperor would love to see him suffer, maybe even kill himself," the lead technician said oily.

To his surprise Leia laughed hauntingly. "Oh I'm afraid my father's still alive and here. Right now he's on his way to the emperor and soon you'll see the empire you serve gone. For Anakin Skywalker jedi knight will be the one to execute your precious emperor for treason!" she said arrogantly.

The imperials all palled as they shared a look. Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker survived the purges. It can't be! Somehow they must warn the emperor!

"Out!" Han ordered. The imperials had no choice. The detonators would go off any minute. Each imperial and storm trooper dropped whatever weapons they had and was lead out of the bunker by the rebels. Suddenly one of the imperials, the youngest of the bunch ran off in another direction.

"Oh no you don't!" Han said firing at the escaped imperial, but he got away. "Well, what is he hoping to accomplish?" Han muttered and continued to take the captured out of the bunker.

-------------------------------------------------------

Anakin and Luke used the shadows to conceal themselves as they moved through the bunker. They moved from shadow to shadow with their cloaks surrounding themselves, keeping their hoods up covering their faces. They rounded a corner to see an imperial technician hurry down the hall. The technician stopped to take his breath and pulled a comlink out.

"The rebels outwitted us your majesty. They brought with them thermal detonator's, we had no choice but to let them have the the control bunker. The shield of the death star will be gone soon. I'm sorry your majesty. But you should know, one of the rebels spoke, she was quite arrogant," The officer said into the comlink.

Luke and Anakin waited in the shadows listening in on the conversation. They knew that this imperial had escaped the strike team. Now the emperor will know that the trap had been sprung. Both Skywalkers were interesting in hearing Palpatine's reaction.

"Well who was she?" Palpatine demanded over the comlink.

"Princess Leia of Alderaan, your majesty," the officer said.

"What did she say?" Palpatine demanded from the comlink.

"It was quite shocking. She said that she was the daughter of Anakin Skywalker," the officer said.

Anakin moved silently up behind the officer out of the shadows and pulled out his lightsaber igniting it.

"There's more, Your Majesty. She said that her father, he was going" Before the officer could say anymore, Anakin chopped off the officers hand that held the comlink. "Ahhhhh!!!!" the officer screamed clutching his new stump dropping the comlink. He looked up at Anakin fearfully.

Luke rushed over looking incredulously at both his father and the technician. "Are you crazy!" he shouted.

Anakin didn't say a word, he just picked up the comlink and crumpled it in his mechanical hand making it useless. Once the comlink was crushed metal and wiring, Anakin turned to the officer. "Get up," he ordered. The technician looked at Anakin's lightsaber fearfully and did as he was told. He knew that this was Anakin Skywalker. It was useless to fight the jedi. "You will not speak of what the princess had said. For if you do, you'll loose more than your hand," Anakin said darkly.

Luke looked at his father knowing that he meant every word. He now knew what Obi-Wan had meant when he said that his father was a cunning worrier. But this was too much. His father had injured an unarmed man. How was that justified. "Father, you can't do any more to him, it's not the jedi way," he said "He's unarmed!" he added for good measure. The technician looked at him hopefully.

"Stay out of this Luke," Anakin ordered and addressed the technician again. "I know your face, do not cross me. Now go get yourself taken care of," he ordered. Gratefully the technician got up and ran out of sight.

"You didn't have to do that!" Luke said.

"This is war Luke! You do what you have to do, even if you don't like it," Anakin said moving through the bunker. Luke followed closely behind him.

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Palpatine and Vader stood in the throne room on the half completed death star. Palpatine wasn't pleased. So far things have not gone according to plan. He looked out the window and noticed the appearance of the rebel fleet. He smiled evilly in self satisfaction. So they actually fell for it. Suddenly there was an urgent beeping from the com station.

"It's from the base on Endor. Perhaps they have good news and the rebels have been captured," Vader said.

"Let it through," Palpatine ordered and Vader pressed the button opening up the line. Instantly a voice came on over the comlink.

"The rebels outwitted us your majesty. They brought with them thermal detonator's, we had no choice but to let them have the the control bunker. The shield of the death star will be gone soon. I'm sorry your majesty. But you should know, one of the rebels spoke, she was quite arrogant," The voice said into the comlink.

"Well who was she?" Palpatine demanded.

"Princess Leia of Alderaan, your majesty," the voice said.

Palpatine leaned back in his throne and drummed his fingers in irritation as Vader listened with interest. "What did she say?" Palpatine demanded.

"It was quite shocking. She said that she was the daughter of Anakin Skywalker," the officer said.

Vader looked at the comlink sharply. No! Two of them. Leia. His daughter was Princess Leia. The same Princess Leia that was on the first death star. The one that got away. No wonder she resisted the mind probe. She was force sensitive. Vader frowned behind his mask. His younger self had gotten to her first. Both Luke and Leia were corrupted by the jedi ways. And then a thought occurred to Vader. They must now have compassion for their father. He could use that to turn them bring them to his side.

"There's more, Your Majesty. She said that her father, he was going...Ahhhhh" The officer said into the comlink followed by another voice, one of Luke Skywalker.

"Are you crazy!" and the line went suddenly dead.

Palpatine turned to Vader sharply. "Lord Vader, What do you know of this!" he demanded sharply. He knew that Vader wasn't telling him something and he demanded to know what. He had been hiding something for a year and now was the time to make him talk.

"Skywalker has a jedi with him who survived the purges. I've been trying to locate him so I can destroy him. Only then can Skywalker be turned," Vader answered. He didn't want to feel the emperors rage at knowing that somehow his younger self had somehow managed to show up in this time line. Now, once his younger self made it up here, he could destroy Sidious and Vader will become emperor. Yes. This will be the advantage he was waiting for. Soon Vader will be emperor and his children will be at his side.

"Go to Endor and capture them!" Palpatine ordered.

"As you wish my master," Vader replied. This will be the last night of Sidious' rein and the beginning of Emperor Vader. Vader strode from the room and marched to his personal hanger where his modified shuttle rested. He would bring both Skywalkers to Sidious and his younger self will kill the Emperor. Yes. Things are going according to plan perfectly. When he reached his personal hanger the doors swooshed open revealing two dark cloaked figures. What? How did they get here? Then he noticed it, the extra shuttle.

"Miss us?" the voice of Anakin Skywalker said as he pulled off his hood.

Vader smirked behind his mask. They just made things much easer. "The emperor is expecting you," Vader said.

Anakin Skywalker smirked. "Good."

the doors to the hanger closed behind them. The corridor they were standing in was empty save for the three of them two jedi and one sith.

Vader looked at Anakin with what Anakin hoped was suspicion behind his mask. "What tricks do you have up your sleeves jedi?" he demanded.

Anakin smirked. "No tricks Vader. It would be futile to try to pull one over an ex-jedi who turned his back on his friends for his lust for power. Too bad that you are no longer human. You're half cyborg and you abilities are slowly leaving you. A pity. It couldn't happen to a nicer man," he said and then spat on Vader.

Anakin grinned as he felt Vader's rage. Vader grabbed Anakin by his throat and lifted him from the ground. Anakin remained grinning. "Go ahead, kill me. If you kill me than you no longer exist and then you will never become Emperor," he challenged. Luke was amazed at his father's courage. It wasn't that long ago that his father had curled himself into a shell on Tatooine. For the moment Anakin Skywalker seemed fine. That there was nothing wrong, nothing was bothering him. He truly was a great warrior, Luke thought.

"You would like that wouldn't you, Skywalker," Vader said menacingly. Yes, he was playing right into his hands nicely. As soon as the emperor was dead, he will have Skywalker locked up until he can figure out how to turn him and send him back to his own time.

"If it means never seeing your ugly face again, then yes!" Anakin said and Vader released him. Anakin landed on his feet, satisfied with himself. He was going to enjoy goading Vader knowing that the sith couldn't touch him. This is where the fun begins.

"Pity that you'll never get your wish," Vader said. "I hope you've enjoyed your memories," he added as an after thought.

Anakin stood straight up. "I knew that they came from you sith spawn but as you can see. I am not weakened and my resolve has never been stronger," he said.

"Soon you will pay for your lack of vision as my son joins me at my side," Vader said arrogantly.

"Correction Vader. My son. Luke is the son of Anakin Skywalker only. You gave all rights up when you killed Padme," Anakin said.

"We shall see, soon you will be with the Emperor. You both will be calling him Master," Vader said. Yes, all will work out. If he played his cards right. He must not let Skywalker know of his plans. Mentally he shielded his mind from from the jedi. Be briefly wondered why Luke wasn't talking. The boy was just standing there, waiting patiently. Not like the last time that they had met. This worried Vader. The boy was too calm. Vader reached out to touch the boy's mind only to be blocked fiercely. He was much stronger in the force than their last meeting. Much like Yoda. Then the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Yoda had survived the purges. Yoda had trained Luke! This certainly wasn't good.

"Never!" Luke said speaking up as he stepped closer. The boy pulled his hood down revealing his face. He looked Vader in the eye. "I'll never join the dark side as you did. Unlike you, I'll die before betraying my friends and family," he finished calmly and proudly.

Vader looked at Luke trying to think of something that he could use against the boy. He must see that he has no choice. It was either he join the dark side or die. Vader was about to tell Luke this but Anakin demanded his attention. "It's a pity how you were freed from slavery for a life of freedom only to choose slavery in the end. After all Palpatine is you new Gardulla," Anakin said viciously. Vader slapped Anakin across the mouth giving him a bloody lip. Anakin spit the blood in Vader's face. The spit blood landed in the eyes of the mask.

Luke watched with amusement and pride as his father goaded Vader to no end knowing full well that Vader couldn't kill him on the spot. If only Leia could see their father in action, she would love it as he did.

Vader wiped the blood from his mask in disgust. "Such disrespect. It's a wonder why you hadn't been killed sooner," he spat.

"You should know by now that I can't be killed until I fulfill my destiny. Soon you and your new Gardulla will be destroyed. Too bad your sith arrogance can't foresee your fate unless it's something that you want to see," Anakin said. Even though he was having fun goading Vader, he itched for some more action. He began counting down the moments until he would finally kill the sith.

He was having way too much fun at this, Luke thought with a smile gracing his lips. This was the true Anakin Skywalker and Luke was proud to be his son. The son of Skywalker, hero without fear, chosen one of the jedi. That was the man Luke called father. Not this sadistic, sociopathic, homicidal manianc who needed to walk around in an iron lung. Luke must have voiced that thought out loud because Vader turned to him sharply and Anakin looked at him with pride smirking.

"What did you just say?" Vader demanded.

Anakin nodded to Luke and Luke stood proudly. "I called you a sadistic, sociopathic, homicidal manianc who needs to walk around in an iron lung. You are not my father. My father wouldn't have turned his back on his family. My father isn't a coward like you," he said to Vader. To his surprise Vader did nothing.

Anakin clapped his hands and smirked. "That's my boy!" he said proudly. Vader turned to Anakin sharply and sent him hard across the hall into the wall with the force. Anakin stood up momentarily still smirking. "You see Vader. You've already lost. You lost everything the day you embraced the dark side. Everything you have ever held dear, you no longer have! You've lost your freedom! Your family! The only woman who ever loved you! Your best friend and brother! Your children! For what?! Empty promises! A life of servitude! You rely on life support to keep you alive! You're pitiful!"he said stepping closer to Vader.

From behind him Vader heard the hum of a lightsaber. Vader turned in time to see Luke wield a lightsaber and sever one of Vader's arms. Vader yelled as he grabbed the spot where the lightsaber sliced off his mechanical arm from it's flesh stump the pain reminiscent of Mustafar. But that wasn't all, he felt something sharp poke him in the side and suddenly his body started shaking violently. His blood felt as though it had turned to ice before suddenly it turned to fire. At the same time he felt as though he were being viciously torn apart limb from limb, flesh from bone. His screams echoed off of the empty walls until the spasms stopped. Vader fell to the floor at some point. It had stopped. Finally it had stopped. But he was having difficulty breathing and he worked the oxygen tank in his suit extra hard. Something was terribly wrong. What ever was in that syringe that Skywalker had tossed aside had done something to him. He tried to use the force to ease the pain but he could no longer do it. What did Skywalker do to him?! He couldn't feel the force anymore. It was gone! How? Why? What could do such a thing?

"What did you do to him?" Luke demanded horrified. How could his father, a jedi, do such a thing to a person and not even flinch at hearing their screams?!

Anakin knelt down and grabbed Vader's lightsaber. Using his mechanical hand he tore the cylinder sides apart and took out the blood red Crystals, crushing them in his hand rendering the weapon useless. He turned to Luke and winced at his horrified expression. He had every right to be horrified. But he had to do what he had done. "Ysalamiri blood," he said simply. "It's now within Vader's blood stream. He can no longer use the force. Once the blood of the ysalamiri enters the blood stream of a force sensitive, all of the midi-chlorians in the force sensitives blood is destroyed along with their connection to the force," he explained.

No! Vader wanted to scream. How could he not see that coming?! Vader was horrified at what Skywalker had done to him. What he had done to himself! He was destroyed! He'll kill him for this. Skywalker will die! And so would the boy. If it were the last thing he would do, they will die! Somehow, he must kill them. They will slip up and when they do, they will die.

Luke was horrified at what he had just heard. How could he do such a horrible thing to someone? He was a jedi! It's not the jedi way! How exactly did his father get the ysalamiri blood? Of course he had heard of the ysalamiri, all you had to do was go near one and you'd loose the ability to touch the force. For a jedi or sith, it was extremely painful. Luke narrowed his eyes at his father. "How did you get the ysalamiri blood, Father? Who got it for you?" he demanded. Anakin didn't look at Luke and Luke knew. "You got it yourself! Have you completely lost it!" he shouted.

Anakin turned to Luke. "If we are to succeed, we must do the unthinkable," he said and bent down to force Vader to stand. "Now, Lord Vader, you are going to do everything I say from now on. Lets go, you have a message to deliver to your army before we meet Gardulla," he said forcing Vader away from the hanger and deeper into the death star.

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Palpatine drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne. What was taking Vader so long? Who was this other jedi? It must be master Yoda. The bane of his failure. He had hoped that the small green _thing _would be gone and dead by now. So Skywalker had been trained as a jedi? Well he would turn just as his father did. And Palpatine knew just how to do it. He would tell Skywalker about his mother. How his own father had slain his own wife. Yes, that will turn the boy. Skywalker will kill Vader and take his place. He'll have a full apprentice now. Not some human cyborg. Out in space, he watched as the rebel fleet approached. Soon the rebels will be destroyed and he'll have his new apprentice. Then he sensed it. The Emperor turned his throne around as soon as he sensed him.

"Did you bring Skywalker?" he asked and was shocked to see Lord Vader shot into the throne room like he was fired out of a cannon. "Lord Vader!" Palpatine said when Vader made no move to get up. He noticed that one of his arms had been sliced off and his lightsaber went missing. That's when he heard it. The hum of two lightsabers. Palpatine looked around and saw nothing. That is until two blades plunged through his guards bodies. One sapphire and one emerald. The guards fell dead to the floor reveling two dark cloaked jedi.

"Hello Gardulla. So we meet again _old__friend_," the unmistakable voice of Anakin Skywalker said darkly. Which jedi he was Palpatine didn't know. But both stepped forward in equal steps. Each put away their lightsabers only to pull out a different one. Both jedi stood in formation as they ignited their new lightsabers, one blade at a time. One saber was sapphire and the other was emerald.

"Anakin Skywalker," Palpatine said flatly. Well maybe he can have the chosen one full and alive as he had originally planned. What a wonderful day this was!

"Surprised?" both jedi said in unison. They both sounded so much alive, moved exactly alike and with their hoods up, Palpatine couldn't tell the difference.

"Pleasantly," Palpatine said oily. "_Old_ _friend_," he added darkly.

"Good. There will be no need to call any more guards, they're all dead and your clones have all left you. Too bad for you that they are easily manipulated. Maybe next time you should have made them with stronger minds. Your slave, Lord Vader here had called all your officers to abandon you for the other surrounding moons of Endor on the lead that more rebel troops have retreated there. It's just us now My Lord. The four of us are the last aboard this doomed battle station and there is just one shuttle left," Anakin said darkly.

Palpatine cackled. "You think it's so easy to get rid of me do you? How terribly misguided you are!" he said sending force lightning at them which both jedi deflected.

"You are the one misguided Sidious. Your faith in the dark side is what blinds you," Anakin said sending the lightning back at Palpatine with his lightsaber. Palpatine toppled in over his throne. He looked up in time to watch as both jedi began swinging their dual blades in their air as they approached the Emperor. The Emperor searched for his own weapon but couldn't find it. Hoping that he only missed it, he searched his robes for his lightsaber.

Anakin laughed, "Looking for something?" he said.

Palpatine looked up in time to see his lightsaber floating between the jedi. Before he could summon his lightsaber back into his hands the sapphire blades slashed it to pieces. He watched helplessly as the spinning blades came closer to him until he was backed against the window of the death star. Making a decision he attempted to dart away from them but was held into place.

"Your reign is over my lord," Anakin said and the blades stopped spinning crisscrossing at Palpatine's neck.

Palpatine laughed. "Go ahead I am unarmed. Kill me and your journey to the dark side will commence," he goaded.

"I hardly call you unarmed," Anakin said and both blades closed around the Emperor's neck sending his head rolling on the floor. Anakin looked down at the headless body with disgust. Soon enough the remains of the sith lord will be destroyed along with the death star. Today they had finally seen the end of the Empire.


	16. A job well done

The rebel strike team under Han's command had gathered the imperials and tied them up with the ewoks guarding. Neither imperial was happy about it . Ten strike team members and Chewie guarded them as well as Han and Leia took the other ten members of the strike team back into the bunker with the detonators. They made quick work of throwing them in the shields control room and running out of the bunker. A huge exploding sound echoed through the semi empty bunker with the storm troopers inside. A ring of fire quickly spread through the bunker closely gaining on the rebels. Han looked behind him at the fast gaining fire and instinctively pulled Leia along with him as he ran faster with the strike team ahead of him. "Come on people movie!" he shouted. Finally they reached the outside. Han pulled Leia down into the brush and laid on top of her to protect her from the flying debris as the explosion hit it's full peak. He winced as the flaming debris flew across his back scorching his jacket. When the explosion was over he turned around to see the now demolished bunker and started cheering with the rest of the rebels. All of the imperials were horrified at their failure and feared the emperor's wrath.

Leia looked at the destroyed bunker and thought about her adoptive father, about how he had fought so hard only to never see this moment. But her biological father was here to see it. Anakin Skywalker had done what Bail Organa himself had visioned himself as being a key part of. Destroying the empire. To bring democracy back to the galaxy. Oh if only Bail Organa and her biological mother Padme Amidala could see this day! Suddenly she felt a brush of warmth pass over her, the first scent of the lotus flower followed by the scent of Bails aftershave and finally Breha's favorite flower, Jasmine. They _were_ here to witness it! Then her thoughts drifted back to the death star. Luke and Anakin were still on it. She hoped that they would get off in time, she couldn't bare to loose her family all over again.

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Luke looked down at Vader's body. He was still breathing but it was labored. That wasn't a good sign. Luke looked up at Anakin then. "We can't leave him here," he said.

"I have no intention in doing so," Anakin said using the force to lift Vader. "We better get off this thing, and hurry. Vader's shuttle is the closest one we have," he said and half dragged Vader out of the throne room. With Luke at his side, they managed to quickly get through the death star and back to the hanger in which they had come. It was no secret that the death star was a maze. But this one was incomplete. It didn't take them too long to get to the hanger and into Vader's shuttle. Anakin had tied Vader up in the back least he woke up from the force induced sleep that he had put him in. After making sure the bounds were tight and secure around Vader, Anakin made his way into the cockpit where Luke was already sitting in the copilots seat working on the controls. Anakin sat down in the pilots seat and pulled back on a lever to lift off out of the hanger. He had already commed the fleet and told them that it was done back in the throne room.

"All right, lets just see how modified this shuttle is," Anakin muttered as they lifted off in space.

As they flew towards Admiral Ackbar's star ship, they passed by the Millennium Falcon as it and several X-wings flew towards the death star. Anakin connected the shuttle with Ackbar's star ship where several high ranking rebels greeted them, all armed with blasters. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the two jedi emerged from the ship.

"General Dodonna, we have Vader in custody. His vitals are weakening, I suggest we get him to a sick bed," Anakin said authoritatively.

General Dodonna and the other rebels palled at Anakin's words. "Why in siths name would you bring that homicidal human cyborg on bored this ship!" General Dodonna asked.

Anakin smirked. "Vader wont be giving you any trouble. He's been injected with ysalamiri blood. He has no power any more," he said.

Luke didn't think that they could pale anymore than they had, but they did. General Dodonna was shocked, that much was clear. Finally after some intense shell shocked faces, General Dodonna spoke up. "I don't know what you wish to accomplish by bringing Vader here, Knight Skywalker, But we cannot host him aboard this vessel," he said.

"This matter is not up for discussion, General. I want to monitor Vader's passage personally. He is my prisoner and I will see to it that he survives long enough for me to say goodbye to my children," Anakin said flatly.

Luke perked up at this. His father was leaving! But he knew that he would eventually, he just couldn't believe it. For the past four years he had spent his time getting to know his father whom he thought was long dead and he couldn't bear the thought that he wouldn't see him again. He'll always have his memories he supposed. He'll always think of how he had fought alongside his father in battle and fixing his X-wing with him, the different talks and jokes. He'll always remember his father as a great warrior and jedi, not to mention a lively and good natured man. Nothing like Vader. He was brought back to the present by the medical team bringing the bound Vader out of the shuttle and walked alongside his father behind the medical team.

When the team had Vader in the medical bay, they had stripped him of his black armor revealing his badly scarred torso and mechanical limbs. Anakin straightened up and stiffened as he saw how bad the body was. How much pain he had been in. If killing the jedi hadn't completely submersed Vader into the dark side, what happened to him physically had done the trick. If this is what he would look like he'd rather be dead. He'd rather be dead than become Vader. That much was for certain.

Luke looked at the damaged body of Vader and turned to his father, Anakin Skywalker. If he was worried that the Alliance would put two and two together after this, then they had nothing to worry about. Vader looked nothing like Anakin Skywalker. He turned his attention back to Vader and watched as the oxygen mask was placed over Vader's mouth and nose. His breathing had become even more labored.

The leader of the medical team approached them, she was in her late fifties and wore light blue robes, similar to old Ben's but different at the same time. Luke knew that she had been with the Alliance for a long time. Her name escaped him at the moment. She folded her hands in front of her as she approached Anakin. "Knight Skywalker, it has been a long time," she said.

Anakin had folded his arms in front of him in his cloak and bowed to the jedi healer. "Minga Durron, it has been a long time," he acknowledged.

"How's the arm? Is it still working properly since I put it on you?" Minga Durron asked.

Anakin smiled. "Like brand new. You know how fickle I am about mechanics," he said and flexed his right hand for her.

Minga smiled. "Yes, how fickle. But I also know how you like to add personality to the droids you build. I shall never forget that medical droid you built for the temple," she said.

Luke cleared his throat and Minga briefly glanced at him. "What about Vader?" he asked. He hated disrupting the small talk between fellow jedi, but he had to know how Vader was doing.

"We should know more once we run some tests. I suggest you check back in an hour," Minga said.

Anakin bowed to the healer with Luke following suit before exiting the medical bay.

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The rebels aboard Ackbar's huge star ship erupted in loud cheers as the strike team from Endor arrived. The fleet had arrived moments earlier after destroying the death star. Luke and Anakin were amongst the group waiting for the strike team. Standing in the front next to General Dodonna and Mon Mothma. Han and Leia were the first out of the shuttle. Leia had dirt and grass strains all over her front, but Han looked far wars as his jacked was scorched and ripped. He seemed to wince when he was patted on the back and Luke wondered about that. Upon seeing them, Leia ran up to Anakin and Luke, first throwing her arms around Luke who returned the gesture, the twins smiled and laughed with each other before they let go. Leia then walked up to stand in front of Anakin's tall and imposing figure before throwing her arms around him. Anakin returned the gesture twirling her around in the air laughing before setting her back down. He then kissed her forehead. "You're safe," they both said and laughed once again.

Leia looked down at herself remembering her bed of dirt and grass during the explosion after stepping away from her father. "I should get cleaned up," She said and noticed the dirt that had rubbed off of her on both Anakin's and Luke's tunics which both just brushed off.

Anakin looked up at her and Han, "Yeah, well, The four of us are sharing quarters, seeing as each quarters have four beds each and that there isn't enough if we don't. I'll show you to the one we're assigned to, Solo, you should come too, you look like you need it," Anakin said.

Luke hung back as his father led Han and Leia to their quarters where they would reside for the night. The crowd of rebels seemed to notice him after the patting on the back was over and realized that they hadn't congratulated Luke in his triumph over the empire yet. Frantically, Luke looked around for an escape. He found it, the corridor to the medical bay.

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Luke looked at the scarred and mutilated body of Darth Vader and wondered what had happened to him. What was left of his body looked like the flesh had literally been burned off in layers, all including his head. His legs had been lost well above the knees and the arm that Luke hadn't taken off, the right arm, well, it had obviously been replaced after Bespin. The one thing that could identify Vader as the former Anakin Skywalker had thankfully been chopped in half by well, himself. There was basically nothing of Anakin Skywalker left in Vader. His father had truly been dead his whole life.

"Anakin didn't tell you how it had happened, did he?"

Luke didn't turn to look at Obi-Wan, he kept his gaze on Vader's body. Was Obi-Wan going to tell him about his father's death? Was he ready to hear it? Whatever had happened must have been horrible. "There's nothing left of my father in him," he whispered.

"No, there isn't," Obi-Wan said sadly. "That doesn't mean that it wont change now," he added for good measure.

At that Luke did look at him. "There's still hope?" he asked hopefully.

"The whole reason for Anakin being here was so that he could be forewarned about his actions and choices. He has the opportunity to change it. When he returns he'll have two years to figure out how to change it. That is if this little trip didn't weaken him and start him down that path even furter. But, Qui-Gon has faith in him, I have faith in him," Obi-Wan said.

Luke took all that in. He held out the hope that his father would succeed. That he wouldn't forgo everything for a path of destruction. That he would have his father as he grew up. That he, Leia, his father and mother would be a family. Family. Something he barely remembered anymore. He had never felt whole, not even when he had Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. He had always had that empty space inside him, always waiting for his father to come and take him away so that they could fly up into the stars. Then he came and he wasn't expecting the events that happened afterwards. He hadn't expected Bespin. He looked back at Vader and he knew that he needed to know. To understand why. Why did everything have to happen the way they did? "What happened?" he finally managed to ask.

Obi-Wan looked at Vader sadly. "I should have noticed it as it was happening. Anakin had grown distant after Shmi died. His transition was slow, it had taken years. Anakin hid things well, but I should have known. It just wasn't like him to shut everyone out. Anakin had always been, well, a burst of energy. He used to pull pranks and build things with personality. But with the start of the clone wars, he had changed, he became more serious and stopped building droids. He only worked on his star fighter or Artoo when he was feeling frustrated. Then everything went to hell. It all happened within four years time as Palpatine slowly seduced him to the dark side. I remember the day we had rescued the Chancellor, after we had returned to Coruscant, I felt his elation through the force and then it turned to horror that very night. That's when it happened. It had begun," Obi-Wan said and looked away from Vader and at Luke.

Luke betrayed no emotion as he processed everything. He looked away from Vader and sat down in a chair. It had happened within four years. Four years. That meant that his father had only been twenty three years old when he ceased to exist. He was so young. But could he change it? Could he turn the tides in another direction? Was two years enough time? If it had taken four for him to turn, then how could two be enough for him to stop it? Sure he had these past fours years in this time line, so would an extra two be enough? But what about the events after Bespin? Luke had noticed how much darker his father had become after learning the truth. Look at what he had done to Vader. He didn't even flinch! Wasn't he just as horrified as Luke was. What exactly was his father capable of? "What happened to make him look like that?" Luke asked nodding in Vader direction.

Obi-Wan looked pained and...guilty and Luke knew. Obi-Wan had done that to him. Obi-Wan had done that horrible thing to his father. Just has his father had done what he had done to himself. It broke Luke's ideals of the jedi to learn this. What exactly were the jedi capable of? What difference were there between the sith and the jedi?

"I did what I had to do, Luke," Obi-Wan said gravely. "I hated doing it. I was supposed to finish the job, but I couldn't. We fought, Luke and I did what I had to do. He was no longer Anakin Skywalker, not after slaughtering the younglings. Anakin Skywalker, the jedi padawan who had 'kidnapped' the younglings for fun and games would never slaughter them like animals," Obi-Wan said. He then looked back at Vader. "I did what I had to do, just as Anakin did what he had to. One's duty sometimes isn't what they like, but they have to do it anyway."

At that moment Minga Durron entered th bay with a data pad. She stopped as she saw Luke sitting there. It had taken Luke a moment to realize that Obi-Wan was gone and he stood up. "Is that the results?" he asked.

"I had expected Anakin to be the one to see over things. He is one fickle jedi, always have been," she said and shook her head. "Yes, the results are here, however I am afraid that Vader wont make it through the night. The ysalamiri blood has replaced his own blood and his body can't handle it. It's poisoning him fast. There is no cure. Without the midi-chlorians in his blood, he cannot fight off this disease. We are trying to ease his pain, but I afraid that Darth Vader is dying a painful death."

Luke was startled. Vader was dying! Minga took his silence as a cue to continue. "I must say, Anakin Skywalker truly is the chosen one. He has done his job well. He knew exactly what he was doing when he poisoned Lord Vader. I was however hoping he would resort to his famous aggressive negotiations instead of resorting to poison. But nonetheless he has done his job well," she said.

Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing! His father had poisoned himself! He knew that the ysalamiri blood would kill him and he did it anyway! Luke couldn't help but wonder if his father had actually done this not as a jedi, but as a hopeful sith! Without a word to Minga Durron, he left the medical bay to confront the man he called father.

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Anakin listened to Solo's report of everything had happened as Leia bandaged up his back which had suffered first degree burns from the flaming debris that flew across his back as he was protecting Leia. Solo winced as Leia rubbed the ointment on his back.

"That hurts you know!" Han snapped.

"Try being on fire," Anakin said smirking making Han gape. "I knew someone who died in the lava rivers of Mustafar, it's not a pretty sight, being on fire," he added.

Leia looked horrified at the thought and Han winced. "That's some way to go," he commented.

Anakin had agreed, it was a way to go and for one to survive something so horrible, it was a miracle. Not a good one for the person who did survive it. "Still, the person who died, was one of the best people I knew, one of the best jedi in the temple. The person who emerged from that fire was different, not the jedi I had once known, but something evil," he said gravely.

"You're talking about Vader," Leia said coming to the conclusion. Anakin nodded and she frowned. "Remind me never to go to Mustafar," she commented dryly. She stopped with the ointment and began wrapping the bandages around Han's torso. Han winced some more from the pain.

"I should congratulate you two on a job well done. I take it the detonators worked like a charm," Anakin said grinning.

"Yeah, like a charm. They certainly weren't expecting that," Han said.

"Welcome to step, oh, five of aggressive negotiations 101," Anakin said leaning back, "Although. I prefer the lightsaber to thermal detonators and blasters. The lightsaber is a lot more civilized," he added grinning. "Obi-Wan hated it when I would skip the civilized negotiations and go straight into the aggressive kind. I guess that's why he's the negotiator and I'm the hero without fear. I just can't stand the idle chit chat when I could be using my trusty lightsaber and kicking some bad guy butt," he finished and then chuckled to himself.

Han smirked. "I've always liked you," he said.

"What's wrong with trying to resolve things peacefully?" Leia asked, but Han and Anakin knew that she wasn't totally into it herself.

At that moment Luke came through the door and stared pointedly at Anakin. "Vader's dying," he said. Leia and Han both chorused "good!" but Luke paid them no attention. He just narrowed his eyes at his father. "But you knew that already didn't you Father," he said pointedly.

Anakin straightened up under his son's scrutiny. He knew exactly what Luke was talking about and he wasn't about to deny it. Both Leia and Han looked at him confused. "I knew," he said simply without any emotion. He refused to acknowledge the anguish of having to do what he did.

"Could ya fill us in?" Han asked and Leia nodded. "Please," she asked.

"Father poisoned Vader with ysalamiri blood making him die a painful death. He single handedly poisoned another human being without so much as remorse for doing so. Just like a sith," Luke said.

At that Anakin stood up angrily and faced his son. "Don't you dare accuse me of that!" he yelled.

"Hold up!" Leia said putting her hands up as both Skywalker men glared at each other. "Just exactly how did you get ysalamiri blood?" she demanded.

"Father got it himself. He had to see for himself that he had the poison for Vader rather than a cheep knock off," Luke said.

"Why exactly do you care so much if Vader dies, Kid?" Han demanded but Luke wouldn't answer him.

"I did what I had to do and you damn well know it," Anakin said calmly. He was anything but calm, but he refused to show it. He refused to show that this was getting to him.

"What you did is not the action of a jedi!" Luke snapped.

"What do you know of the jedi, Luke! Nothing!" Anakin snapped at him.

"What do I know? I am a jedi!" Luke yelled.

"Not yet," Anakin said. "You've only received the bare essentials of the training required to become a jedi. It takes years of training, up to twenty five years! Jedi are trained from birth! Every jedi who lived in the temple had been taken from their families as infants to become trained. You have a long way to go before you become a jedi."

"How could you be so calm about what you did?!" Luke demanded.

"Because I had to!" Anakin yelled. "Do you think I liked getting the ysalamiri blood?! I didn't, it was torture being around those creatures! Do you think I enjoyed hearing Vader's screams as the ysalamiri blood took over his system?! I didn't and the screaming wont leave my head! I did what I had to do. It was either I poison Vader or let you kill him. I will not let you live with killing him," he yelled.

Luke's eyes widened at his father's words. His father had poisoned Vader to stop him from having to kill Vader and then live with the fact that he killed his father. His father shouldered the guilt for him. It was a selfless act worthy of a jedi. He wasn't turning to the dark side. He was preventing it as was the purpose for his being here. Suddenly he felt as if he needed to sit down. He sat down heavily on a seat opposite of where his father had sat moments earlier. He had accused his father of becoming a sith and he was wrong. Oh so very wrong. He could feel his father's scrutinizing gaze followed by one of understanding. He was caught between apologizing, and silence. He chose silence.

"Why would Luke have to kill Vader?" Leia asked worried.

"It's what Master Yoda asked him to do," Anakin answered her.

Han's eyes got bigger than a toydarian's at the mention of Yoda while Leia gave them a confused look, While Han had heard of Yoda, Leia hadn't. "Yoda survived the purges?! Where the hell was he during the war? He would've been a great help!" Han yelled.

"And I wasn't? I'm hurt Solo," Anakin said and then became serious again. "Master Yoda had to go into hiding due to how strong he was in the force, he was unable to help us before he died," he said solemnly.

"Was Yoda a jedi?" Leia asked her father.

Anakin stood proudly. "Yoda was the grand master of the jedi order, the wisest jedi who ever lived, no to mention he was skilled with a lightsaber. I had admired him a great deal when I began my training. Not to mention that fact that he found my pranks to be funny and rewarded me with candy rather than disciplined me as he should have," he said.

"_Three hours until we reach base!"_ the voice over the loudspeaker said bringing the conversation to a stop.

Anakin glanced over at Luke to see him slumped in his seat. He hadn't said a word since the yelling match they had and Anakin frowned. "Come on, we should get some rest. It's been a long day," he said in his best authoritative tone he could muster. Leia and Han nodded and Leia helped Han ease himself in the bunk he would be sleeping in. Anakin walked over to Luke. "You're not still mad at me, are you?" he asked.

Luke looked up at him and shook his head. "No," he said.

Anakin grinned. "Good, now get to bed," he said. Luke nodded and stood up going to the bunk on the other side of Han laying down. Once everyone was settled down, Anakin lay back on his own bunk with his hands firmly clasped behind his back. The events of the day finally catching up with him as he closed his eyes. As soon as they were closed he felt himself spinning unable to stop it.

* * *

A/N: It's not over yet. We still have Palpatine to stop, once again. The journey continues. 


	17. The Return

A/N: Just a chapter on some Obi-Wan and Anakin interaction mixed in with some battle droids. Not much of the story goes on in this chapter. There'll be a lot more in the next chapter, I promise...

Charlie.

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Anakin opened his eyes to see the vast darkness sprinkled with white dots that was space accompanied by red laser blasts.

"Anakin!" the familiar voice of Obi-Wan shouted into the comlink almost frantically. It was then that Anakin noticed how out of control his starfighter was and struggled to regain control. "Anakin! Are you alright! Anakin!"

Anakin heard the urgency and fear in Obi-Wan's voice as he struggled with the controls of his ship. And he remembered. He was hit! That blasted separatist ship had hit him! How in siths name did he not see that one coming?! He checked Artoo's readout on his ships computer and noted that he was on his emergency engines. Once more Obi-Wan shouted his name and Anakin knew that he had to answer him. "I'm alright, just got a little cooked, Master. I'm going to have to land somewhere and fix the engines. Think you can handle things yourself?" he said.

He heard Obi-Wan's sigh of relief through the comlink. "You could have said something sooner, you know," Obi-Wan said. "Where exactly are you going to land?"

Anakin checked his readouts of the galaxy and found one name. Mustafar. No. He didn't want to go to Mustafar. He'll have to find someplace else. Then he found it. It was a small planet. Hardly any information was in the system about it. Meaning that very little was known about it. It'll be the perfect place to hide out while he repaired his ship.

"Well?" Came Obi-Wan's impatient voice. Well that was a change. Obi-Wan was the most patient man Anakin knew.

"I thought I was the impatient one, Master," Anakin said and grinned when he felt Obi-Wan's annoyance. "I think I found it. Have you ever heard of Dumaz?"

"Dumaz?" Obi-Wan repeated puzzled.

"It's the closest planet beside Mustafar. I don't want to go to Mustafar which means I'm not going to," Anakin said the last part stubbornly. He was never going to go to Mustafar. Nothing and no one can make him go there.

There was a pause as Anakin continued to struggle with his controls. Finally Obi-Wan spoke. "Fine. I'll met you at Dumaz, keep your comlink open so that I can find you," he said.

"As you wish, Master." Anakin said. "I however need to concentrate at the moment. My ships going out of control.

"Don't do anything stupid Anakin," Obi-Wan warned.

Anakin grinned. No. He wasn't about to do anything stupid. "Obi-Wan. This is me you're talking to," he said arrogantly.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Obi-Wan groaned and Anakin chuckled into the comlink.

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Anakin now knew why Dumaz was mostly unheard of as he crash landed his starfighter onto the rocky surface. Nothing but rocks. Big rocks, small rocks and look! More rocks! Anakin wedged open his starfighter and stepped out of it. He took off his right glove, cloak and both lightsabers. Wait. Both lightsabers? How was he going to explain the sudden appearance of the double bladed lightsaber? Anakin grinned as he remembered building his extra lightsaber with Luke. At least he had something to remember his little trip by. Maybe this is the forces idea to make sure he didn't forget about what he had experienced. Shrugging, he tucked the extra lightsaber up into his tunic. He'd have to keep it hidden for now. He threw his cloak, glove and lightsaber into the seat of his starfighter and reached behind the seat for his tools and emergency kit. He set the tools and the kit down and examined the damage. Yup, the main engines were on fire. He went over to his emergency kit and took out his firespary. Shaking up the can first, he promptly sprayed it on the fire. Anakin jumped back suddenly as the flames got bigger. That wasn't supposed to happen! He read the label on the can and mentally smacked himself. On the bottom of the label it said EXPIRES IN 23 BBY. Uh oh. Why in sith's name didn't he replace it when it expired?! Anakin threw the worthless can of firespray as far as he could throw it and listened to the sound of mental hitting rock in the distance. He then went back to the ship's cockpit and opened up the comlink.

"Um, Obi-Wan?" he called.

"What did you do?" came Obi-Wan's voice.

"Why do you always assume that I did something wrong?" Anakin asked annoyed at the response.

"Because you always do something either stupid, careless or something you're not supposed to do," Obi-Wan replied. Anakin could see Obi-Wan rub his temple as he said this.

"Let's get to the point. Do you have an up to date can a firespray in your emergency kit?" Anakin said.

"Anakin," Obi-wan chastised. "Why don't you ever update your emergency kit before we leave Coruscant?"

"Because I never really need to. You're the one who I always have to save. You're a terrible pilot," Anakin told him simply.

"I'm not a terrible pilot. Just because I don't pull suicidal stunts like you does not make me a terrible pilot. It makes me a cautious pilot," Obi-Wan argued.

"Whatever, I'm not the one who has to keep replacing my star fighter because I ran into vulture droids," Anakin defended himself. "I'm still a better pilot than you," he added for good measure.

"Just because you won a pod race when you were a child doesn't make you a better pilot, Anakin," Obi-Wan said.

"You're just jealous Master," Anakin said and grew serious. "When can I expect you to get here, my ships on fire."

Obi-Wan sighed. "I'll be right there. When we return to Coruscant, You're updating your emergency kit and you'll be doing it every time we leave too."

"Yes, Father," Anakin said sarcastically and shut off communications. Meantime Artoo lifted himself out of the starship and hobbled up to the fire spraying it with what Anakin hoped was non expired firespary. The fire went out. "Well, looks like I wont be needing that firespray," Anakin mumbled grabbing his tools and began work on the damage.

In a moment Obi-Wan's red starfighter landed beside Anakin's blue one. "I see you put out the fire," Obi-Wan said.

There was a clanging sound followed by some colorful cursing in huttiese. Anakin pulled himself out from under the starfighter rubbing his forehead. "You don't make enough sound when you approach people," he muttered.

"It's called stealth, you should try it sometime," Obi-Wan said and Anakin did the most childish thing he could do. He flicked Obi-Wan off. "Oh real mature, Anakin," Obi-wan said dryly.

"I would ask for your help, but you're no good with mechanics, Negotiator," Anakin said and went back to his starfighter with Artoo beeping frantically. Anakin popped his head out from the starship as he listened to Artoo's frantic beeps. "Someone's coming," he said jumping up and going straight for his cockpit where he grabbed his lightsaber.

"What are you talking about?" Obi-Wan asked just he felt something stick in his neck. He dropped to the ground unconscious.

Another dart flew by, but Anakin was expecting it and caught it in his mechanical hand crushing it. He looked in the direction the darts had come from seeing nothing before something hard collided with the back of his head.

----------------------------------------------------

Anakin groaned as he came to. The pain in the back of his head was enough to remind him of what had happened. He quickly stood up to find his lightsaber missing from his hand. He quickly patted himself down and sighed with relief. They hadn't found the other one. He looked around and found himself in some sort of cell. Obi-Wan was laying against the wall to his right. The position that Obi-Wan was laying in couldn't be all that comfortable. Making a decision, Anakin decided to kick Obi-Wan lightly making the older jedi groan. Well that was a good sign. Anakin kicked Obi-Wan again making sure that he came too. "Get up Obi-Wan!" he almost yelled. He didn't want to alert whoever put them in here.

"No, Anakin, I'm not dying my socks purple," Obi-Wan muttered defiantly making Anakin smirk in amusement.

"I don't want you to dye your socks purple, I want you to dye them pink," Anakin said close to Obi-Wan's ear making the older jedi's eyes snap open to see Anakin's grinning face close to his.

Obi-Wan scrambled back away from Anakin smacking himself hard against the stone wall. "Anakin! Don't do that!" he said.

"Do what?" Anakin asked innocently as Obi-Wan stood up straightening his robes.

"Startle me awake like that," Obi-wan said. He then noticed where they were and groaned. "What did you get us into this time?" he asked.

"Some sort of cell. Won't know why or where or by who until we get out of here," Anakin said. Suddenly the jingling of keys could be heard and the door to their cell was opened by an ugly pudgy creature on thin legs. Reminding him of an ugly large and misshaped nuna.

"Oopa moonga, jedi scum. Oopa moonga, you're coming with me," it said.

It booked no room for any disagreement and Anakin shrugged at Obi-Wan. "Lead the way Master," he said bowing.

"Why do I have the feeling that you're going to do something stupid?" Obi-Wan hissed at him.

Anakin betrayed nothing as they were lead from the cell through a damp hallway. Where exactly did the water come from? Anakin mentally shook his head. He had to come up with a plan. At least he still had his double bladed lightsaber. Anakin knew that Obi-Wan was thinking about how they would get out of this.

----------------------------------------------------

Obi-Wan chanced a look at Anakin to see a stone wall expression on his face and did a double take. Something was defenantly different about his padawan. He could sense it. He seemed...older. But that just didn't make any sense. Older and wiser. As though he had recently been through a lot. Like he had been through something terrible. Was he having another nightmare? If so, about who? And what was he going to do about it this time?

By now they had arrived in a larger room, more of like a control room or better yet, throne room. Something defenantly wasn't right. Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes as he felt it. But then Anakin looked over at him and winked. What was he up to this time? He better not do anything stupid. Obi-Wan's attention was brought away from his padawan and towards the double doors as they opened.

In stepped the one person or thing they were after. General Grievous. He was flanked by numerous battle droids. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, the negotiator I've been waiting for you," Grievous said coughing as he approached them the droid general looked pointedly at Anakin. "And Anakin Skywalker. With someone of your reputation, I expected someone older," he said.

"General Grievous . . . Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies. You're shorter than I expected," Anakin said calmly.

"Anakin try not to upset him, we have a job to do," Obi-Wan said looking at his padawan. Anakin still had that stonewall expression on his face.

Grievous coughed again. "Jedi scum," he said. "Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection," he said patting the spot where their lightsabers rested.

Anakin raised an eyebrow at him. "So sure of yourself?" he said.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan warned. They were swarmed by battle droids all holding their blasters aimed at them. They were defenseless. One slip up could mean their death. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something slip into Anakin's right hand, blending in with the metal and wires of his hand. Obi-Wan realized that it was a lightsaber. Where exactly did Anakin get the extra lightsaber? And why hide it? From what he could see of the new lightsaber in Anakin's hand, he knew that it was different than other lightsabers. But what exactly was different about it was what Obi-Wan wondered. It some how seemed familiar.

General Grievous approached them and eyed them suspiciously. But Anakin remained impassive. "I've been waiting for the chance to take you out. You've been a thorn in my side for far too long.," Grievous said menacingly. Grievous then stepped away coughing. "Kill them," he ordered the droids.

In a lighting fast move, Anakin ignited his dual bladed lightsaber, one blade at a time and slashed through the droids. Obi-Wan's eyes widened as he saw this. This defiantly wasn't what he had expected. He quickly looked back at Grievous and reached out through the force for both his and Anakin's lightsabers. He tossed Anakin's to him who caught it before igniting his own, also battling the droids. "Where in siths name did you get that new lightsaber?!" Obi-wan demanded as he slashed through the droids. More droids just kept coming at them the more they destroyed them.

"I built it!" Anakin said tearing five droids apart. When the battle droids stopped coming, in came a few destroyer droids. All five destroyer droids came to a rolling stop and stood in formation putting their shields up before they started firing at the two jedi.

"You built it? When? And why would you build a sith's weapon?!" Obi-Wan demanded.

"Just because a sith used one to kill Qui-Gon does not make it a sith's weapon!" Anakin defended himself as he blocked more fire from the destroyer droids. "We're going to have to find a way out of here," he added.

Obi-Wan looked around as he blocked more fire from the destroyer droids. "Wait a minute, Where did General Grievous go?" he demanded. The droid general was no where in sight. This certainly wasn't good.

Anakin looked back at Obi-Wan sharply before looking around for the general. "It's a trap! We need to get out of here!" he said.

"Good thinking Anakin! But there's a slight problem, our only exit is blocked, or haven't you noticed!" Obi-Wan said blocking more fire.

Anakin put away his lightsaber and turned to Obi-Wan. "Cover me," he said jumping up on a higher level.

Obi-wan barely had time to look and see where his padawan had gone to as he was now fighting five destroyer droids alone. "You're using me as bait again!" he shouted after Anakin in outrage. He always did this! Why was he always the bait. Why couldn't Anakin be the bait for once? Suddenly a large piece of rock fell down on top of the five destroyer droids, crushing them. Obi-Wan put away his lightsaber. "Great thinking Anakin! You've single handedly blocked our only exit!" he called.

"Quit your wining Master, it doesn't become you. Look, I've found a way out up here." Anakin said from above him.

Obi-Wan looked up and saw a huge opening in the ceiling looking up at what looked like stars far along the way. Of course! Leave it to Anakin Skywalker to do things bigger and harder. He then jumped up to the higher level next to where Anakin stood. "How far below the ground do you think we are?" he asked looking up at the tunnel.

"About forty feet. I noticed how dry the surface was when I landed here and then back in the cell I noticed the dampness. I knew we were deep underground to have our cell leaking water," Anakin said looking up.

"I'd like to know where you get all these calculations in your head from," Obi-Wan commented. "Come on, we better get a move on if we're ever to get out of here in one piece."

Both jedi went to their utility belts and pulled out an harpoon gun. They shot them high in their air, connecting with the mouth of the tunnel. As soon as they were secure, the jedi began to climb up the wire of the harpoon guns. It was a long and tiering affair, but both jedi made it to the surface. Surprisingly not far from where their starfighters had landed.

"Well, now we know how they knew we were here," Obi-Wan said looking pointedly at Anakin.

"How was I supposed to know that we'd be captured here? I'd say our capture was by the will of the force," Anakin said and earned a skeptical look from Obi-Wan. "What?! It's what Qui-Gon always says!" he defended himself. This time he earned another suspicious look from Obi-Wan. "Hey it's not my fault he likes me better and talks to me instead of you, you've become boring!" this time he earned a worried look from Obi-Wan. "What?!" Anakin asked.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said slowly. "How hard were you hit on the head?" he asked.

Anakin rubbed the back of his head unconsciously. "Not that hard, why?" then he realized where Obi-Wan was getting at. "Oh, no! I'm not going crazy! Not yet anyway. Qui-Gon really does talk to me!"

"Right," Obi-Wan said skeptically and moved ahead.

Anakin fell in step beside him. "Don't tell me that with having Qui-Gon as your master that you don't believe in the living force!" Anakin said.

"Anakin, the living force has never been proven to exist. The council hasn't acknowledged the very theory," Obi-Wan said.

"So, you're telling me that if the high council doesn't acknowledge it's existence, then it doesn't exist. Have you ever thought that maybe the council is wrong about a great many things?" Anakin said.

Obi-wan stopped and looked at Anakin sternly. "You see, that way of thinking will never earn you a place on the council," he told him flatly.

"Maybe I don't want to be on the council! Force knows, I can't stand how closed minded everyone on the council is!" Anakin replied hotly.

"I'm on the council, does that make me closed minded?" Obi-Wan asked leveling Anakin with a stern look.

"Well, you could open up your mind about a lot of things Master," Anakin said dryly.

"You still have a lot to learn Anakin," Obi-Wan said as they reached their starships. "Is your ship ready?" he asked as Anakin picked up his scattered tools and turning Artoo back on from when he was shut down.

"I'll just have to stick with using the emergency engines that I had added for this purpose only until we get back to the temple," Anakin said as Artoo beeped wildly at them. "Hurry Artoo, we need to leave here fast!" he added noticing something coming towards them, angry and fast. Apparently their escape had been noticed.

Artoo whistled as he lowered himself into the starfighter and Anakin quickly shoved his tools back behind his seat where they belonged, foregoing the emergency kit, he could always get a new kit, but he couldn't replace his tools. His mother had saved up a lot to get him those tools! He quickly jumped into the cockpit of his starfighter, not bothering to move his cloak and glove from the seat as he sat down.

"Well, it looks like your little cave in was noticed Anakin," Obi-Wan said as Anakin put his headset on and closed the cockpit.

"It took them long enough!" Anakin said starting his starfighter up and lifting up off the ground as Obi-Wan did the same. Just as the mass of creatures and droids neared where they had once been settled on the ground, they took off in space, heading back home to Coruscant. They had done their job and found Grievous, but the General had escaped. Now they had one more planet to put on the list as being on the separatist side.

----------------------------------------------

Anakin crash landed once again, this time on the jedi temple hanger. Not so much as a graceful and skilled landing as he was known to have, but it would have to do for his damaged ship. Obi-Wan's star ship landed next his.

"Not much of a landing Anakin," Obi-Wan commented. "I'd say that you're loosing your touch," he added for good measure.

"I did the best I could with a damaged ship, I'd like to see you do better," Anakin said jumping out of his starfighter taking his cloak and glove out of the cockpit. He examined his starship and winced. It would be a while before he could take it out of Coruscant. "I don't think I can take my time and repair my ship before we're called off on another mission, can I?" he asked as Obi-Wan stood next to him examining his ship.

"I don't think your ship can be repaired," Obi-Wan said gravely.

Anakin glanced away from his ship, the ship he had taken years and hours to personally modify. He looked at Obi-Wan and clenched his jaw. "I'll fix it and have it good as new in no time," he said determinedly. He then pulled his black glove back over his mechanical arm before pulling his cloak on. "Do we have to brief the council now or can it wait until tomorrow morning?" he asked.

Obi-Wan sighed. He would have rather gotten it over with, but something in Anakin's eyes told him that he was tired and needed some time to process things. Process what, Obi-wan didn't know. He thought about asking Anakin what was on his mind that he needed some time, but he thought better of it. Anakin would open up on his own time. He nodded. "Of course. Go, get something to eat and rest. You look like you could use it," Obi-Wan said dismissing Anakin. He would have liked to demand what had Anakin upset, but felt that pestering him about it would upset him even more. Give him time. In time he will open up.


	18. Home

A/N: The song lyrics at the begining of the chapter are to the song, 'kiss by a rose' by Seal from the Batman Forever soundtrack. Now I'm a rocker, but I have to say, this song rocks and in my opinion it's the perfect Anakin/Padme song, you know for before he turned to the dark side. I suggest that when you get the chance, download it! Okay we've left the brotherly banter between Obi-Wan and Anakin and now lets see how Anakin is going to adjust to being home...

This chapter holds suggestion ONLY! I'm not into the whole love thing, so for the sake of the story, I'm going to try my hand at it. Let me know if I'm doing a good job with Anakin and Padme or not, cause I'm a bit unsure myself.

Charlie._  
_

* * *

_There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea._

_You became the light on the dark side of me._

_Love remained a drug that's the high and not the pill._

_But did you know,_

_That when it snows,_

_My eyes become large and_

_The light that you shine can be seen._

_Baby,_

_I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey._

_Ooh,_

_The more I get of you,_

_Stranger it feels, yeah._

_And now that your rose is in bloom._

_A light hits the gloom on the grey._

_There is so much a man can tell you,_

_So much he can say._

_You remain,_

_My power, my pleasure, my pain, baby_

_To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny._

_Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby?_

_But did you know,_

_That when it snows,_

_My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen._

_Baby,_

_I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey._

_Ooh, the more I get of you_

_Stranger it feels, yeah_

_Now that your rose is in bloom._

_A light hits the gloom on the grey,_

_I've been kissed by a rose on the grave,_

_I've been kissed by a rose_

_I've been kissed by a rose on the grave,_

_...And if I should fall along the way_

_I've been kissed by a rose_

_...been kissed by a rose on the grave._

_There is so much a man can tell you,_

_So much he can say._

_You remain_

_My power, my pleasure, my pain._

_To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny, yeah_

_Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby._

_But did you know,_

_That when it snows,_

_My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen._

_Baby,_

_I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey._

_Ooh, the more I get of you_

_Stranger it feels, yeah_

_Now that your rose is in bloom,_

_A light hits the gloom on the grey._

_Yes I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey_

_Ooh, the more I get of you_

_Stranger it feels, yeah_

_And now that your rose is in bloom_

_A light hits the gloom on the grey_

_Now that your rose is in bloom,_

_A light hits the gloom on the grey._

Anakin leaned heavily on the walls of the turbo lift standing there with his arms spread, palms flat on the walls. He sighed as he rested his forehead against the cool glass. In this reality it had only been three months since he had last been on this turbo lift leaving their apartment, but for him it had been four years. Physically he was only twenty one years old, but mentally because of his trip into the future he was twenty five. He had learned a lot from being in the future. He felt different. Would she notice how different he was? He already knew that Obi-Wan noticed.

Before this ride in the turbo lift would have filled him with the thoughts of being reunited with his wife and the passion they would share. But right now he was more focused on what he had experienced in the future. He knew that he had to change it. He just didn't know how.

The lift came to a stop and the doors opened up into their apartment. Anakin turned around and walked into the apartment. He was alone for now. He knew that Padme was at the senate at this time and would be home soon. "Threepio!" he called out. Artoo closely followed him into the apartment and made some beeps and whistles before going off in another room to plug in so that he could charge up. Moments later Threepio came walking into the living room.

"Oh Master Ani, you've returned safe. Mistress Padme will be so pleased to see you Sir. She's at the Senate, she should be back soon I hope," Threepio said.

Anakin smiled. "I've missed you Threepio," he said. It was true. Even though he had Threepio in the future, it just wasn't the same with his memory wiped. "Could you bring me a snack and something to drink?" Anakin said giving the droid the order in the most pleasant way possible.

"Right away Sir," Threepio said and left the room.

Anakin sat down on the couch and turned on the holonet. Instantly the news came on and his picture was plastered on the screen. Not wanting to hear any stories about himself he changed the channel to something else. The next channel, a program about space battles came on. It was intended for boy children and Anakin imagined Luke engrossed in this kind of program as a child. Luke. He turned out to become a powerful jedi in a short period of time. Yes his son had raw natural talent, something he had gotten from him. Anakin thought about what it would be like to raise his children with Padme. They would be doted on. They would grow up together instead of on different planets across the galaxy. They would grow up with both their parents. Anakin could train Luke to be a jedi and Leia would follow her mother's footsteps becoming a senator, a born leader.

Threepio came back into the living room with a tray in his hands. He set the tray on the table in front of Anakin. "Here you are Sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Threepio asked.

"No, Threepio, that is all," Anakin said dismissing the droid who bowed slightly and left the room.

Anakin summoned the nubian pair from the plate of nubian fruits and bit into it savoring the sweet taste. He had missed the simple pleasures of this place such as the food and the tranquility. This was where he belonged. This was home. He finished the pair and set down the core in the plate before taking a drink from the full glass of bribb juice(his favorite beverage) on the tray. Oh how he loved the taste of bribb juice. Padme knew this, thus the reason why she kept the kitchen stocked, for the moments when he would return home unannounced. He finished his snack and leaned into the couch with his arms spread along the back. He leaned his head back and rolled it from side to side.

"Ani!"

Anakin stood up and turned in time to see Padme come into the living room towards him. She threw her arms around him.

"You're safe. I heard whispers that your ship blew up," she said into his neck.

Anakin wrapped his arms around her tighter and breathed in the scent of her hair. The familiar scent of the lotus flower. She had let it fall down her back this time. Obviously it was one of those slow senate days. His left hand reached up and felt the silky curls. She was here in his arms alive. "I've missed you so much Padme. You have no idea how much," he told her. He then brought his hands to her face. "I love you," he told her before kissing her.

She melted in his arms as he put everything he had in their kiss. He had spent a lot of time wondering if he would ever see her again and now that she was in his arms he needed to feel more of her to make sure that she was real. Not breaking their kiss, he slowly ushered her her out of the living room towards their bedroom. Once inside he closed the door and broke their kiss to strip himself from his clothes. Padme stood there watching him with keen interest breathing heavily as he undressed himself. Using the force, he made Padme's elaborate dress fall away leaving her standing there in her slip. Anakin once more took her face in his hands and kissed her gently bringing her down onto the bed. His flesh hand traveled from her shoulder, dripping the strap on her slip down, all they way down the front of her body and down her thigh stopping at the hem of her pewter blue silk slip. He then reached under the slip, feeling the warm flesh beneath his palm. He grinned slightly against her neck before once again kissing her. He then pulled her thigh over his in a quick flash. It was good to be home.

----------------------------------------------------------------

An hour later, Anakin lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Padme lay curled up beside him in his arms. He unconsciously played with her silky brown curls as he thought about what he was going to do now that he was home. The biggest problem now was the fact that Chancellor Palpatine was still alive and was being given a lot more emergency powers in the senate. He held the office for far too long. Hadn't anyone said anything against it? No. The senators were fools. As senators, they should have keen intellect, but where Palpatine was concerned, they were fools. Hell before his trip into the future he had been one of them! He had two years. Why not forgo those two years and kill Palpatine now?! Why? Because he held too much power. If he assassinated the chancellor, the republic could turn against the jedi. He needed proof that Palpatine was really Darth Sidious. But how to get that proof was another matter. No, he would need time. But in two years time, Palpatine would declare a new order and the jedi would be extinct if he didn't do something to stop it.

Padme's hand reached up from where it rested on Anakin's chest before stroking his chin. "What are you thinking about?" she asked him.

Anakin turned to look into her brown eyes. "The chancellor," he said simply.

Padme sat up at that. "You're thinking about Chancellor Palpatine in bed? Should I be worried?" Padme asked.

Anakin sat up and looked at her. "Haven't you noticed that he's been in office far longer than he should be. I'm worried that he has too much power. If the senate continues to give him emergency power, the more we loose the democracy we've been accustomed to," he told her.

Padme looked at him carefully. "Anakin, this isn't like you," she said. "The chancellor is your friend, why are you talking about this?"

"Somebody should," Anakin told her. "I feel like we're being deceived. I can't explain it, it's just a feeling."

Padme looked away from him which worried him for a moment. "This isn't what I expected to hear from you," she said.

"Don't tell me you support his emergency powers! That's not something I expect from you either," Anakin told her.

"I don't support it. In fact I'm against it! But what can I do about it? Those of us who are against it, we're just small voices against many. The hard part about it is this war. The longer it continues, the harder it will be to stop it," she said looking at him.

Anakin took her hands in his and kissed them. "That's why I'm going to end this war before we loose democracy. I have a feeling that the chancellor is really behind it, so he can be in power longer. I know it's a little far fetched. But who else could benefit from the war?" he said simply.

"Who are you and what have you done to my Ani?" Padme asked him.

Anakin smiled as he knew that Padme was only joking. Oh how much he missed this. How he had gone on without her, he couldn't fathom. "I was thinking," he said easing them both back into their previous positions. He ignored her comment on "Save me! You've been thinking!" and continued on. "What do you think if we bought our own apartment instead of living in this official residence? I know, that it's not going to be something easy due to our secret and who we are, but I'd like to have a place that I can call my own, someplace big where our family could visit us. A place we could truly call ours," he suggested.

"Anakin, I don't know. It'll be a little risky," Padme said and then caught on to something else he had said. She looked at him questionably. "Our family would visit?" she asked.

"I think we can afford to let our family in on our secret. I mean, they wouldn't leak it, would they?" Anakin said uncertainly.

Padme looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, it might make my parents stop worrying so much if they found out that I was married to a jedi. My mother especially," Padme said.

"And I want to tell Obi-Wan. I know now that he wont turn me in to the council. In fact he'll probably be shocked at first, then angry, then he'll sigh and tell me that I've really got myself into a huge mess before he'll accept it," Anakin said making Padme sit up and look at him carefully.

"Where is all this coming from?" she asked him suddenly.

Anakin shrugged. "I'm just tired of us keeping us a secret from the people who really care about us and that we care about in return. Besides, what will happen when it's not just the two of us anymore?" he said.

Padme's eyes widened at the implications behind his last words. "Are you thinking about children?" she asked.

Anakin smiled at the thought. He thought of having Luke and Leia running about as children. Before, he hadn't thought it was possible, but now. He knew that it was what he wanted. He knew that it was something that Padme had wanted. "Maybe not now, but in the future, yes. I'd love to have little feet running around," he said honestly.

Padme shook her head. "Anakin, we can't. Not with the war. Not with who we are. We have no room in our lives for children," she said sadly.

"I'd give up being a jedi in heartbeat if it meant being a family with you, and having children. To not have to hide our love, it's all I can think of sometimes. Don't tell me that you haven't thought of it too," he told her.

"I have thought of it. But we have important jobs, Anakin. We can't just stop being who we are because we're tired of it. We can't abandon everyone who needs us," she told him.

"I don't think we can stop it from happening if it's meant to happen," Anakin told her.

"We'll cross that bridge when it comes up," she told him caressing his jaw. "For now, we'll have to continue with our lives as it is. Believe it or not, there are more important things going on in the galaxy than us."

Yes, Anakin knew that all too well. If he were to have any future with Padme and their children, he had to stop Palpatine. He had two years. Two years, and already he knew that time was ticking away too fast before the galaxy is blown apart.

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_Anakin ran through the smoke filled temple every once and a while stopping at the fallen jedi only to find that they were already dead. He had to move quickly if he were to save them! All around him he could hear the firing of blasters as the clones took down the jedi. With the jedi spread so far apart, they were powerless to stop this threat to their home. He shuddered as he felt more lives being torn apart. Why couldn't he stop it? There was still time. He had to get to the younglings! More smoke filled his vision and he stopped just as a piece of the ceiling came down in front of him in flames. That way was now out. Frantically he looked around for another way. He found it. He had used this secret pathway all too many times before. He quietly slipped through the passage. He ignited his lightsaber using the blade to light his way through the dark tunnel. He had to hurry. He had to save them! The pathway grew narrower the higher he climbed, but he pressed on. Just a few more steps and he'd be out of the passage. He manged to get out unnoticed and quickly ran to the turbo lift. As soon as the doors opened, he jumped in, he pressed the code clearance in for the high council chambers. He only hoped that he wasn't too late. Finally the doors to the lift opened and he stepped into the seemingly empty council chambers. They were here and they were hiding. Finally one, a boy with blond hair reminding Anakin a lot of himself when he was that age, came out from his hiding place. _

_Master Skywalker, there's so many of them, what should we do?" the boy asked fearfully. _

_Anakin pulled the boy close to him. "It's okay, I wont let them harm you," he reassured the child. He would protect these children with his life. The monster will not harm them. Anakin sensed him coming closer. He knew where they were. The child could sense it too as he clung to him. Anakin rubbed the child's arm in assurance. The monster will not harm them! Finally he bent down to the child. "Go back to your hiding place and don't move or make a sound, okay," he told the child who nodded fearfully at Anakin before going back to his hiding place. _

_Anakin waited in front of those doors. He was coming closer. He was going to kill them! No! Anakin wont let him! Anakin wont let him hurt them. He'll stop the monster from hurting these children! Finally the doors opened reveling the black cloaked figure of the new sith lord. Anakin gripped his lightsaber firmly in his hand and the sith lord scrutinized him from under his hood. The sith gripping his own lightsaber, a blood red one. The mark of a sith. Finally slowly, the sith looked Anakin straight in the eyes smirking at him. Anakin found himself staring into his own face. But it wasn't his. This face had sith yellow eyes!_

Anakin shot up in bed drenched with sweat. His breathing became heavy as though he had actually been running through the temple. No! He wont let it happen! He had to stop it. One way or another he was going to stop it from happening!

"Ani?" Padme said sleepily.

Anakin cursed himself for waking her up and laid back down. He stared into the ceiling above him, refusing to close his eyes.

"Ani, What's wrong?" Padme asked fully alert as she looked at him. She reached out and placed her hand on the side of his face forcing him to look at her.

He took her hand in his flesh one and kissed it tenderly. "It's just stress, Padme," he told her.

Padme frowned at him and he knew that she was going to press him. No. He wasn't going to tell her about what was about to come. It would kill her. He refused to do that to her. "Let me help you," she said gently.

Anakin kissed her fingertips once more. "You already do, Padme. More than you know," he told her wrapping his arms around her as they lay there. One way or another he was going to stop Palpatine. Even if it meant sacrificing his own life to do so. He was going to stop him.

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"The future you see. Always in motion the future is," Yoda said.

Anakin had come straight to Yoda as soon as he arrived at the temple. He needed Yoda's help. He had to tell him about the future. "Master, I've been there. Recently," Anakin told him making the grand master look at him from his meditative state.

"Bad is it?" Yoda said seeing the fear in Anakin's eyes.

"The sith take over, Master. We loose the war. But that's not it. Only two jedi survive. Yourself and Obi-Wan. All of the jedi becomes extinct," Anakin told him making the aged jedi master look at him sharply.

"And the sith lord, know him do you?" Yoda asked.

"Chancellor Palpatine is the sith lord we've been looking for, Master," Anakin said gravely.

Master Yoda sighed. This was not good news. Not good news at all. He knew the truth behind Skywalkers words. He would not implicate the Chancellor as he did if it were not true. "We must be cautious. Let Sidious know that we know who he is, we must not. How much time before the sith take over have we?" he said.

"We have two years Master, Unless I can stop him, but I need your help. I cannot do it alone," Anakin said gravely.

"Sense great fear in you, young Skywalker. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to the dark side," Yoda warned.

"What should I do, Master?" Anakin asked.

"You must let go of your fear. Trust in the force. All will be well. The force is on our side," Yoda said.

Anakin nodded in understanding. He couldn't tell Yoda the full truth. Not yet. He couldn't bare the thought of loosing Yoda's trust. If he was to succeed, he must have the jedi on his side. "Teach me Master," he asked coming to a decision. Obi-Wan was right. He still had a lot to learn. He needed for Master Yoda to teach him what he was unable to learn until now. The future rest upon it.

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Padme sat and thought about what Anakin had said the day before. Their family deserved to know. He was right of course. She wanted to share her happiness with her family. She hated keeping her marriage a secret, especially from her family. Her family would honor her's and Anakin's wish to keep their life a secret. They would understand. The republic wasn't ready for word to get out about a jedi and a senator being married. Not now. Not during the war. Still, there are people who would use her's and Anakin's love for each other against them to cause them harm. They knew what they were risking when they had gotten married. It was rushed and quiet. Kept secret. They lived separate lives by day, but by night they were together. For now that would have to do. Just until the war was over. Just until they could feel safe. She knew of Anakin's frustration's at having to keep their marriage a secret and she felt it too. So why was she trying to convince herself not to tell her family? After all, who can you trust more than your family. Making up her mind, she stood up and went over to the holocom and dialed her sisters code. She sat down thinking about how she was going to word what she was about to say. Knowing Sola, she would see through all of her barriers. She always did. Padme had always shared everything with her sister. In fact Padme was closer to Sola than anyone. These past two years had been painful to Padme to not to be able to share such a wonderful part of her life with her sister. Her thoughts were interrupted with her name being said.

"Hello, Naboo to Padme, are you in there?" Sola said and smirked when Padme came out of her thoughts. "What brings you to com me so early in the morning?" Sola asked grinning.

Padme looked startled as she looked at the crono and winced. It was four o'clock in the morning on Naboo! "Sola, I'm so sorry to wake you this early, I didn't even think to realize what time it was for you," Padme apologized.

Sola waved a hand in dismissal. "It's alright I was already up anyway. Now tell me what is so important that you just had to com right away," she said resting her chin on his fist eagerly.

"Actually I was hoping you could come to Coruscant with Mom and Dad for a few days. We haven't had much time together since the start of the war and I can't pull away enough time from the senate to come to Naboo. I just miss you guys a lot and would really like to see you," Padme told her.

"There's more to it than you're telling me little sister, oh so much more, I can sense it," Sola said eagerly hoping for gossip.

Padme smiled. Knowing that Sola would be dying to hear what she was going to announce. Which is why she wanted her family on Coruscant when she announced it. "I'll tell you once you get here, I promise, I'll tell you everything. Oh there is so much, Sola, so much I want to tell you," she said.

"Why can't you just tell me now?" Sola pouted.

Padme laughed at the look her sister was throwing her. "If you bring Mom and Dad here, I'll leave no detail out. I pinky swear," Padme said holding her pinky out in Sola's view ranged.

"Ohhh, pinky swear, then it must be good! Alright, I'll get Mom and Dad there and when I get there, You will give me every gushing detail!" Sola said agreeing with a twisted smile.

Padme smiled. "I wouldn't dream of leaving anything out," she said and both sisters started laughing.

----------------------------------------------------

Anakin sat in the room of a thousand fountains and tried to meditate. He was having trouble clearing his mind as Master Yoda had drummed into him. He ground his teeth. Why was this so difficult for him?! All the other jedi could clear their minds at a moments will and let the force guide their actions. What in siths name was wrong with him?! He was supposed to be the chosen one! Why can't he just clear his mind for once? He winced when Yoda hit him with his gimer stick on his shin.

"You must let go of your consciouses self!" Yoda snapped. "Ask me to teach you, hear not a word I say do you?" he said pacing in front of Anakin.

"I'm sorry master. I am trying, but I can't get it out of my mind. I feel like we are wasting time," Anakin said.

"Only way to let go of your fear is to clear your mind. Only then will the force flow through you to guide you," Yoda said and poked his gimer stick onto the marble floor. "Again!"

Anakin closed his eyes again. He tried not to think of what was going on now or in the future, but of what the force was trying to tell him and he saw it again. Vader's face smirking at him. Anakin snapped his eyes open and backed up some. No! He wont do it! He wont turn! Vader will not exist! Why was the force showing him that?! Hadn't he vowed never to let Vader exist?! He knew what would happen and he was trying to prevent it! Why was the force slapping him in the face like this?

"What did you see?" Yoda asked seeing Anakin's horrified expression.

"I need to go," Anakin said fearfully.

"The sith lord that you killed, haunting you is he?" Yoda said making Anakin snap his attention to the grand master. How did he know?

"The unthinkable, you did. Saved someone you cared about from doing a horrible thing, you did. Did what you had to do, you did. Now you must forgive yourself," Yoda told him.

Then it hit Anakin. Yoda knew! He knew everything! "You've been talking to Qui-Gon he said.

Yoda nodded. "Told me everything, he did. Now the question is, what are you going to do about it?" he finished the last part by poking Anakin in the side.

"Help me Master. Help me fix everything," Anakin pleaded.

"Already, you have resisted the lure of the dark side, now it's trying to lure you back. Don't let it! Don't let Sidious win your soul. For if you do, we would loose one of our greatest and we will fall because we had failed you," Yoda said gravely. He began to pace in front of Anakin. "Away you must go to think. Yes, away from Sidious and his dark taint. Take your time, you will. Go with you, Obi-Wan will. Away, you must go, someplace Sidious would not think to touch you," he said making his decision.

Anakin nodded. "I'll go to Tatooine. I know a place where we could hide out. But first I have a promise that I must keep," he said.

Yoda waved a hand dismissively. "Yes, Yes, you may go to your wife. Like it I do not, but accept it, I must," Yoda said and noticed the dumbfounded look on Anakin's face. "Qui-Gon, very chatty he is. Convinced me to accept it, he did,"

Anakin nodded slowly. If only Qui-Gon would speak to Obi-Wan about this for him. _"Fat chance Ani. Some things you must do yourself,"_ Qui-Gon's voice said to him making Anakin shake his head dismayed. He left the room of a thousand fountains after that and went to return home.


	19. Talks

Anakin lay fully clothed on top of the immaculately made bed. He lay there flat on his back with his arms spread out to his sides, staring fixedly at a spot in the ceiling. Around him Padme bustled about making sure everything was perfect. _What a pair_ Anakin thought to himself. Both him and Padme were perfectionists in their own way. Padme just took it to the more extreme. _EVERYTHING _had to look perfect now that Sola and her parents would be arriving any moment. While this had been Anakin's idea, he suddenly didn't want to face anyone at the moment. He was just too exhausted. Both mentally and physically. It had been a TWO WEEKS!! two weeks since he'd been back and what does he have to show for any plans? NOTHING?! He had nothing to show as a way to solve his problem. Yes, the problem being Lord Sidious. The senate had just granted the SITH LORD more emergency powers! Were they all just dumb deaf and blind to what is going on around them?! Obviously. At this rate, the empire will be on their tails faster!

"Anakin, can you please take your boots off of the bed?" Padme asked for the tenth time getting frustrated with the silence and the intense gazing at the ceiling. At this rate, he was likely to burn a hole into the spot he was fixed on. Fed up with not getting a response out of her husband who seemed to be in a fowl mood about something, Padme grabbed him by his ankles and with one hefty pull, yanked him halfway off the bed so that his boot clad feet rested flat on the floor. He _still_ didn't respond. "So help me Skywalker!" she muttered and promptly shoved his huge body off of the bed and onto the floor earning a glare from him as she fixed the bed. "Don't look at me like that Anakin! My parents and sister will be here any minute and if you don't pull yourself out of whatever mood you're in, you're sleeping at the temple for a week! Maybe two!"

Anakin's eyes grew wide at her threat before he stood up. "Okay, you win! I'll behave!" he said throwing his hands up in the air.

Padme finished fixing the bed and looked up at Anakin. "What is wrong with you Anakin?" she asked.

Anakin stood by the window and looked out onto the city of Coruscant. "Don't they realize that with each emergency powers they award to the chancellor, the less freedom we have? They're slowly allowing the republic to become a dictatorship! How can they allow that?" he said.

Padme walked up to him and put her arms around him, resting her head against his shoulder. "Could you forget the corruption of senate and the chancellor for tonight, please Anakin?" she asked.

Anakin looked down at her and sighed. "I'm sorry Padme. But I can't shake this forbidding feeling. I know something bad is going to happen and it revolves around the chancellor," he told her softly.

Padme ran her hands up and down Anakin's arm and back and sighed. "I trust your judgment Ani. If you say that Chancellor Palpatine is behind this war, then we need to do something. But we can't yet without proof. If you're so worried, then maybe you should find that proof yourself. You know the chancellor trusts you. You have ignored his calls since you've been back. Maybe it's time you stopped ignoring him and do your own investigation," she told him hoping she could ease his worries.

Anakin wrapped his arms around her and rested his forehead against hers. "You're right, Padme. I need to take matters in my own hand. As soon I get back, I'll see what I can do about it,"

Padme looked at him alarmed. "You're going on another mission! For how long this time?" she asked.

"It's nothing dangerous. Master Yoda feels that I've been too stressed lately and he's ordered me to take a break. Only being on Coruscant seems to be giving me more stress, and Master Yoda had ordered me to take some time off to reflect, he suggested that I go back to Tatooine and is sending Obi-Wan to watch over me. To make sure that I do as I'm told," Anakin reassured her. "I actually leave tomorrow," he finished and looked out the window again. He could now see his own reflection in the window and it startled him not to see his padawan braid anymore since Master Yoda had decided to knight Anakin the week before. A fact that Anakin didn't truly understand yet. Not with everything Master Yoda knew of what was yet to come.

"How long will you be gone?" Padme asked.

"I don't know. I hope not for long. I'm needed here," Anakin told her.

"Mistress Padme, there are some people here to see you, they say that they are your family," Threepio said coming into the room.

"Thank you Threepio, you may tell them that I will be out in a moment," Padme said and she turned back to Anakin. "Are you going to be alright?" she asked.

Anakin nodded. "I'll be out soon, I promise," he told her.

Padme gave him a quick kiss before leaving the bedroom. She walked into the living room to see her parents and Sola standing there. She hugged her father first and then her mother before her sister. "I'm so happy that you could come. Do you find the hotel rooms I reserved for you alright?" she said.

"They're wonderful Padme," Her mother said and smiled. "Well look at you, you're glowing Dear," she added.

"Come sit down, I have something important that I want to tell you," Padme said leading them to the couches.

"What is it Daughter?" Ruwee Naberrie asked.

Padme looked from her parents to her sister who leaned in closer eagerly awaiting for what Padme had to say. She took a breath. "There is no easy way to tell you this. Do you remember two years ago when jedi knight Anakin Skywalker escorted me home?" she asked.

They nodded. "What about it Dear?" Jobal asked.

"Well just after the war began, we married in secret," Padme said and looked at her parent's shocked expression while Sola looked at her triumphantly.

"I knew there was something there between the two of you!" Sola exclaimed.

"You're married?" Jobal asked shocked.

"To a jedi? Are jedi allowed to get married?" Ruwee asked.

Before Padme could answer that Anakin walked into the room and spoke up. "No, we're not. But I love your daughter and would resign from the order if it weren't for the war," he said.

Ruwee stood up and faced the taller jedi and looked him hard in the eye. Anakin stood still under Ruwee's scrutinizing gaze. "You married my daughter," Ruwee said. Anakin nodded. "Well then, welcome to the family my boy," Ruwee said clapping Anakin on the shoulder. Anakin sighed with relief. He had expected something else from Padme's father.

"I assume that You've been safe while you're here," Jobal said to Padme as Anakin sat down next to her.

"You don't have to worry about Padme, she'll have to full protection of the jedi. If she ever needs it. I just recently learned that Grand Master Yoda knows of our marriage and he approves. Not to mention that I would lay down my life for her," Anakin told them.

Padme looked at Anakin when he said that. "Yoda knows? How did he find out, did you tell him?" she asked.

Anakin looked at her. "I didn't need to. I should know better than to try to keep something from Master Yoda," he said and smiled.

"Does this mean that we don't have to hide from the council?" Padme asked.

"No. The rest of the council has no idea. Besides. I wouldn't let our marriage be known until this war is over and we've caught Darth Sidious," Anakin said and looked at the Naberrie family.

"You think that if your marriage is found out that Padme would be in danger?" Sola asked.

Anakin nodded. "Darth Sidious is my enemy. He'll stop at nothing to get me, even use the ones I care most about," he told them. "When I stop Sidious, this war will be over and then we can all be safe."

Padme looked over at Anakin when he said that. She remembered something else he had said two weeks ago. _"I have a feeling that the chancellor is really behind the war, so he can be in power longer. I know it's a little far fetched. But who else could benefit from the war?" _Her mind combined the two. Darth Sidious was the sith lord that the jedi were looking for. Anakin had suddenly turned against Chancellor Palpatine. The war would be over once Darth Sidious was caught. What exactly _did_ Anakin know? Could the chancellor really be a sith lord or was her mind just putting things together that weren't anything there?

"Padme are you alright?" Jobal asked bringing Padme out of her thoughts.

Padme looked around the room at her families worried faces and then at Anakin's. He had a look of understanding on his face as though he knew what she was thinking about. She was going to have to talk to him tonight when her family left. For now she just smiled. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about how nice it was that we've finally been able to tell you our secret. You have no idea how hard it was for me to keep this from you," she said as her hand found Anakin's flesh one and gave it a squeeze.

"Well, I don't know about Mom and Dad, but I'm dying to know about the wedding," Sola said.

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Anakin watched as Padme brushed her hair as she stared out from the balcony into the city of Coruscant. It was a moment that he had missed during his time in the future. It was the simple moments like this that he cherished. The thought of never seeing or experiencing these small moments was a painful thought. He knew that he had to stop the future he had been in from happening.

"I was thinking about what you had said," Padme said.

Anakin smiled. He knew that she would bring up what he heard her think about earlier. "What did I say?" he asked her.

"Do you really think that Chancellor Palpatine is the sith lord that you've been looking for?" Padme asked turning to face him. There was no easy way for her to ask him that.

Anakin didn't say anything at first. He couldn't lie to her. But he also couldn't tell her how he knew. Anakin turned away from her. How was he going to explain this?

"Anakin," Padme said and sighed. "How long is it going to take us to be honest with each other?" she asked placing her hands on both of his arms as she rested her head against his back.

"I don't think, Padme, I know," he told her and turned around to face her. "Don't ask me how I know, because I can't tell you. I just know that everything hangs in the balance if I don't stop him. I just don't know how without the republic turning against the jedi."

Padme looked up at him, knowing that there was more than he was telling her. So much more. "Do you have proof?" she asked. If what he was telling her was true, then the galaxy was in a bad position. Because it's leader isn't who he says he is. If it were true and Chancellor Palpatine was a sith lord, Padme knew that she had to find a way to stop him from having emergency powers.

Anakin shook his head. "No. But we can't let the Chancellor know that I know his true identity. So I'm going to have to answer his calls at some point," he said. He just didn't know how safe that was for him if he pretended to be Palpatine's friend.

Padme wrapped her arms around him. If what he said were true, what would Chancellor Palpatine do if he knew that Anakin had known that he was a sith lord and meant to destroy him? Anakin wrapped his arms around her tightly as though he sensed her thoughts. Which he probably did. "I don't want to think or talk about the chancellor anymore tonight. All I want to focus on right now is us," she said looking up into his eyes. Anakin smiled and bent his head down to kiss her. Padme opened herself up to him and Anakin bent down to pick her up in his arms to carry her to the bed.

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Obi-Wan looked at Anakin's fixed starfighter and couldn't believe his eyes. The starfighter was brand new! Anakin's mechanical skills will never cease to amaze him. It had only been two weeks since the starfighter was almost destroyed and now it was brand new. Everyone at the temple knew that this starfighter belonged to Anakin Skywalker, due to it's blue paint. It was the only one that was blue. Trust Anakin to want to stand out.

"Close your mouth Obi-Wan you're inviting mynocks in," Anakin said coming up to him with a bag slung over his shoulder.

Obi-Wan turned to Anakin then. "What are you talking about, Anakin?" he asked. He was just standing there waiting for his former padawan. He certainly wasn't standing there with his mouth open.

Anakin grinned at Obi-Wan indicating that he was only joking. He nodded to his starfighter. "See, I told you I'd repair her," he said triumphantly. "And you said I couldn't."

"I have to say, you've done a good job on the outside. But I have yet to see how well the inside is," Obi-Wan told him raising an eyebrow.

"Oh she's in fine condition, Ben, perfect in fact," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan raised the other eyebrow. "Ben?" he asked questionably.

Anakin mentally smacked himself for using that name. He quickly searched for some way to cover himself up. Then he found it. "You always seemed more like a Ben to me rather than an Obi-Wan," he said. "Obi-Wan, who would think of such a name?" he added with a grin.

"You're name isn't all that desired for either Anakin," Obi-Wan said defending himself.

"I like my name," Anakin told him stuffing the large sized bag behind his seat in the cockpit.

"And I like mine," Obi-Wan told him simply. He watched Anakin make room for the bag in his starfighter briefly wondering what the urgency in their going to Tatooine was. Obviously Master Yoda felt it great need for Anakin to get off of Coruscant and away from the war and for Obi-Wan to watch over the newly knighted Anakin. But neither Anakin or Master Yoda had given him any more details than that stress was eating at Anakin. So Obi-Wan had agreed. Anakin didn't need to be stressed out. How ever Obi-Wan could help Anakin, he would.

"Master?"

Obi-Wan snapped out of his musings to see Anakin looking quizzically at him. "Yes?"

"Are you ready to go?" Anakin asked.

"Yes. But a quick question, where exactly are we going?" Obi-Wan asked.

"The Lars Homestead," Anakin told him simply.

"Your step family? Does Master Yoda know about this?" Obi-Wan asked. He couldn't picture the Grand Master agreeing to this.

"Of course he does!" Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan shook his head. They had no time for him to check with Master Yoda about this. "What are the coordinates?" he asked.

"Don't worry Master, all you have to do is follow me once we reach Tatooine," Anakin said.

"Leaving so soon without a word, are you," Master Yoda asked as he came out into the hanger.

Both Anakin and Obi-Wan bowed to the aging Grand Master. "Of course not Master," Anakin said.

"Pray that you have an uneventful trip away from this dark taint young Skywalker," Yoda said.

"So do I Master," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at this. What does the dark taint to the force have to do with Anakin? "Master, I assume that Anakin has told you where we are to stay," he said.

"Know this I do. Stay with the Lars, both of you will. Already have I spoken to Cliegg Lars about this. Agreed to this he did," Yoda told him.

"Of course Master," Obi-Wan said.

Yoda hobbled up to Obi-Wan. "Keep an eye out, Master Kenobi. Fear for young Skywalker's future and safety I do. Dark times this is for both of you," he said.

Obi-Wan raised his other eyebrow at Yoda. "Does this have anything to do with the sith lord we have been looking for?" he asked.

Yoda nodded gravely. "Speak of what is to come, young Skywalker will, when he feels the time is right," he said and then walked over to Anakin. "Look out for the safety of Senator Amidala the jedi will while you are gone, for if what you say is true, then her safety is of the utmost importance," he said.

Anakin nodded to the Grand Master. "Thank you Master," he said.

"Now go, you both must stay low. Least Darth Sidious knows where you are," Yoda told them.

Both Obi-Wan and Anakin bowed before climbing into the starfighters with Artoo and Arfor. Obi-Wan pondered over what Master Yoda had said. He vowed that he would get Anakin to talk about whatever he had told Master Yoda while they were staying hidden.

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Padme sat with her mother and Sola in her living room drinking nubian tea and talking about Ryoo, Pooja and Sola's one year old son, Janren. Occasionally they would talk about their childhoods. Ruwee had decided that he wanted to check out some of Coruscant's public archives for the day so it was only the women in Padme's apartment. Padme had taken a day off from the senate to visit with her family.

"So Padme, now that you're a married woman, how is it, in the bedroom I mean," Sola asked.

"Sola!" Padme exclaimed looked at her mother, he cheeks flushed.

"What?" Sola asked believing that there was nothing wrong with the question. "I'm only asking because you married the most sought after man in the galaxy. You married the hero without fear for force sake! You have to give me some details. You promised, remember," she said.

"You're one of the club now Dear, it's a given that you talk about these things. I remember when I was first married, my sister and I would talk for hours comparing our husbands," Jobal said.

Padme looked from her mother and to her sister's eager face and sighed. She knew that she should dish. After all she _did_ promise. And who else would she share this with. She smiled as she knew what she was going to say. "It's amazing!" she said.

"How amazing?" Sola asked leaning forward.

"Very. Especially after Anakin returns from a mission. There are some nights when he's home that I don't sleep at all," Padme gushed.

Sola sighed heavily. "Oh my!" she said.

"You're lucky Dear, there aren't a lot of men who can do that," Jobal told her.

"Sometimes I wish that Darred and I can just stay up all night like when we were first married. But alas he has to work a lot and needs his sleep and then we have the children," Sola said. "I tell you, things change once you have children."

"Yes, When you have children, Dear, you must make a few new adjustments to your life," Jobal told her.

Padme shook her head. "Ani was talking about children the other week. But with the war and who we are, I'm afraid that it's just not a possibility," she said.

Jobal placed a hand over Padme's "You shouldn't give up hope like that, Padme. There will be a time when it is a possibility," she told her.

"If only this war would be over with," Padme said.

----------------------------------------------------

"Anakin, will you stop doing that!" Obi-Wan said through the comlink as Anakin once again did circles around Obi-Wan's starfighter.

Anakin grinned. "Why ever not Master? It's fun," he said and decided to punctuate it by nudging Obi-Wan's starfighter with his.

"Anakin!"

Anakin laughed. For once he was having fun. It was only moments since they had left their hyperspace rings near Tatooine. "I'm sorry Master I forget sometimes that you hate flying," he said.

"It isn't so much flying, but it's what you do sometimes that bothers me," Obi-Wan said.

"What do I do that bothers you so much Master?" Anakin asked and decided to circle Obi-Wan's star fighter again in loops.

"That's one of them!"

Again Anakin laughed. "Come on Master, lighten up a bit," he said.

"Will you stop pulling your stunts and land near this homestead of yours," Obi-Wan said.

"As you wish Master," Anakin said automatically dipping his starfighter low down to Tatooine's atmosphere. Obi-Wan's starfighter closely followed. The two jedi starfighters scraped through Tatooine's desert surface in search for the Lars Homestead.

* * *

A/N: I know it's a short chapter. I hope to make the next one longer. Coming up next, we visit with the Lars family and something happens... 


	20. Trouble on Tatooine

The two Jedi Starfighters landed outside the humble moisture farm that was the Lars Homestead. Obi-Wan opened up his cockpit and stepped out of his starfighter while Anakin decided to jump out of his with a somersault as was his preferred way of exiting his starfighter. Obi-Wan shook his head as he folded his arms in his cloak over his chest. Anakin just stared at three grave stones that were off to the side. Obi-Wan knew that Anakin's mother was buried there and he felt sympathy for his 'brother'. As though sensing Obi-Wan's eyes on him, Anakin looked at him.

"You're here sooner than we expected," Owen Lars said stepping out of the doorway that led inside to the Lars home. He looked the same as he did two years prior when he and Anakin met for the first time. He looked from Anakin to the other jedi. "You must be Master Kenobi," he said. "We were about to sit down for our evening meal. After you've parked your ships in the garage, you can come down and eat."

"Your hospitality is gratefully appreciated," Obi-Wan said offering a bow. "Come, Anakin, let us get our ships out from the open."

"Of course, Master," Anakin said and turned to his ship. He raised his right hand and lifted his ship with the force moving it towards the garage.

"Anakin. What have I told you about showing off," Obi-Wan said seeing Owen's bewildered expression.

"I'm not showing off, Obi-Wan, just moving my ship," Anakin said as his ship made it into the garage where it sat next to a speeder. "Would you like for me to move yours as well, Master?" Anakin asked politely.

"No, that's quite alright, Anakin. I'll move it myself," Obi-Wan said extending his right hand where he moved his ship into the garage next to Anakin's.

Both jedi turned to see Owen staring with his mouth open. Obi-Wan and Anakin shared a look before they waved their hands over Owen's shocked expression. Owen instantly snapped out of his momentarily shocked state and closed his mouth. He shook his head.

"You're going to have to get used to us using the force while we're here Owen," Anakin said.

"I hope that we don't have to stand out here forever," Obi-Wan said.

"Of course, come right in," Owen said turning and going back inside. Both jedi picked up their bags and followed Owen inside.

Once they reached inside they were greeted by Cliegg Lars in his hoverchair and Beru Whitesun. "Anakin, it's nice to see you again, Son. Master Kenobi, it's an honer to host you in my house. Beru has prepared a room for the both of you, you can put your stuff in there.

"Thank you," Anakin said bowing.

"I'll show you to your room," Beru said and walked past the two jedi to show them where they would be sleeping. Obi-Wan bowed to Cliegg before he and Anakin followed Beru down a hall. "I'm afraid that you'll both be sharing this room, there's two beds in here and it's very comfortable," Beru told them.

When Anakin stepped into the room, he closed his eyes seeing a vision of his mother. Her very presence was so vivid in this room. He felt her warmth spread through him and he basked in it.

"Anakin, are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked bringing Anakin out of the spell he was in.

Anakin opened his eyes. "My mother stayed in this room," he said.

Beru looked startled for a moment. "Well, yes. This was her room before she and Cliegg wed. How would you know that?" she said.

"I can feel her," Anakin said and closed his eyes again trying to envision her in this room. _I love you Ani. I believe in you. _He barely heard the words whispered so softly into his subconscious. He opened his eyes again to find that Beru had left. Obi-Wan had already set his bag on the bed to his left and was putting a few spare sets of jedi robes away.

"How long do you plan on staying here?" Obi-Wan asked sensing Anakin's return to reality.

"I don't know. Hopefully not for long. We're needed on Coruscant more than we are here or in the war," Anakin told him.

"We're needed just as much in this war than we are anywhere else, Anakin. We're jedi. We're the ones who have to maintain the peace," Obi-Wan told him.

"The focus is not out here in space. Our focus, the jedi's focus is on Coruscant. He never leaves Coruscant," Anakin said.

"What are you talking about, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked crossing his arms. Anakin knew something more than he was letting on.

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan and back to the door. He wasn't sure how much he should tell Obi-Wan or what he should tell him. Would he believe him? He'd think he was nuts.

"Anakin, We are not leaving this room until you tell me what is going on," Obi-Wan told him sternly.

Anakin looked back to Obi-Wan and he knew that he had to tell him something. "Darth Sidious is on Coruscant as we speak. He's always been on Coruscant, right under our noses," he told him.

Obi-Wan looked incredulously at him. "Are you sure?" he asked him.

Anakin nodded. "Very. He has plans much bigger than what we can imagine. He plans to take over. This war is just an illusion act," he told him.

"How do you know this? There's more, I can sense it, Anakin. What else are you not telling me?" Obi-Wan asked.

"We should join the others, the meal is ready," Anakin said dropping the subject.

Obi-Wan knew that he wouldn't get any more out of him at the moment. But he had time to get Anakin to tell him everything. What else were they going to do here on this desolate planet? Why Master Yoda had picked this planet was beyond him. "Alright, then we shouldn't be rude to our hosts while we're here," he said and the two jedi left the guest room.

They met up with the Lars family in the dining room just as Beru put the meal on the table. Anakin's eyes lit up as he saw one of his mothers famous meals. Bantha chowder. Beru saw this and beamed.

"Shmi taught me how to make this among other things," she said. "I hope it's to your approval. I don't know how my cooking compares to hers."

"I'll be an excellent judge for you," Anakin said earning a stern look from Obi-Wan but he only winked at his former master, something that Obi-Wan hated sometimes. He could hear Obi-Wan's thought loud and clear. He was thinking over what Anakin had told him. If only her knew everything. The two jedi took their seats as everyone else did. Anakin was the first to dish himself out a bowl of bantha chowder and took a taste, slowly savoring it, eyes closed as he was deep in thought.

Owen paid no attention as to whether Anakin Skywalker approved of Beru's cooking or not as he dished himself out a bowl of the chowder and began eating it. Cliegg however waited to hear of Anakin's approval or not. Obi-Wan just rolled his eyes as he too dished out a bowl of chowder and ate it slowly and civilized. Beru however waited anxiously hoping to gain the young jedi's approval. Finally Anakin opened his eyes as he swallowed. He grinned at Beru.

"You've done a fine job. However I'm always going to partial to my mom's cooking. I could give you some little hints here and there that my mother probably didn't tell you," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin in surprise. "Since when do _you_ cook?" he asked.

"My mother taught me," Anakin said proudly. "It's not my fault that I was never allowed into the kitchen at the temple."

"Maybe it was your constant pranks that made people weary of you going near their food, force knows that putting up a force field up around all the toilets in the temple made the entire order willing to not put anything past you," Obi-Wan told him.

"I was ten! I thought it was funny at the time," Anakin defended himself.

"That's no excuse, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him.

"New topic please, I don't want any arguing at my table," Cliegg said.

"We're not arguing," both jedi said at the same time.

"Dad, the evaporators are on the fritz again. I don't know what to do with them this time," Owen said changing the topic.

"Why don't you let me take a look at them. I'm pretty handy at mechanics," Anakin offered.

"That's very generous of you, Anakin. Owen you can show him where the controls are tomorrow," Cliegg said.

Owen stared at his bowl of chowder. He would rather screw nails into his toes than work with Anakin Skywalker, but he didn't voice it. Instead he replied with "Yes, Dad." he felt Beru's hand on his arm in a soothing gesture and he let thoughts of their upcoming wedding sooth him over. He waited until this meal was over as Anakin Skywalker talked. The jedi just seemed to enjoy the attention. The selfish jerk.

----------------------------------------------------

Anakin stood in front of the mirror in his and Obi-Wan's adjourning refresher. He had just finished getting himself cleaned up after working on his starfighter all night long. Trouble was with working on a starfighter was the amount of grease and fuel that he would get covered with. So now he was just finishing cleaning himself off. Now he just had to get rid of the stubble that had grown during the night. He was never growing a beard like Obi-Wan had. He however _did_ plan on growing his hair out. He knew that he was never cutting his hair again. He could just imagine Padme running her hand's through his hair as he loved to do with hers. She knew this, that's why when she didn't have to go into the senate and they were alone, she left her hair down. Lost in his musings, he made the mistake of nicking himself. "Sithspawn!" he cursed as the nick stung.

"_Anakin!"_

Anakin quickly turned around. His eyes surveying his surroundings, finding no one there. He was imagining things. Just being on Tatooine, was making him hear things. He turned back to the mirror and nicked himself when he saw the face of his mother in the mirror behind him. Again he turned around finding that he was alone. He was defenantly imagining things. How could his mother retain her identity when she wasn't force sensitive? Even with the living force it was impossible. Without further incident he finished shaving and returned the the room that he and Obi-Wan was sharing and set about his normal morning routine. Settling himself on the floor, he brought his knees up and crossed his arms over his chest and did fifty sit ups before doing fifty push ups. In the middle of his morning workout, there was a knock on the door followed by Beru coming in with a clean set of towels.

Anakin promptly stood up when she entered. "I was just bringing in some clean towels," she said an blushed. Anakin quickly looked down at his bare chest and promptly threw on his robe. "Breakfast should be ready soon," she told him.

"That's alright, I usually don't eat breakfast," he told her and took out a power bar from his bag. "I much prefer these," she said peeling back the wrapper and taking a bite.

Beru frowned. "That's not much of a breakfast," she told him.

"I don't really need big meals. I mostly survive of food rations. With constantly being on the battle field and all," he told her.

"Well while you're hear, I'd much rather see you eat more that rations. I'm sure Shmi would agree," Beru told him.

"I don't disagree with you. If my mother was here, she'd strap me to a seat at the table and force me to eat even if mean shoving the food in my mouth," he told her.

"I could very well do that you know. Just because you're bigger than me and a jedi doesn't mean anything," she told him.

Anakin laughed. "I'm sure," he said. "Very well, I'll see about eating decently," he said. He knew that if Padme was here, she'd do the very same thing.

"Well, I'll just leave these towels with you and I hope to see you sit down with the rest of us for breakfast," she said and left.

Shortly after she left Obi-Wan woke up from his sound sleep across the room. He checked the crono and groaned. "I've slept in, why didn't you wake me?" he said.

"You seemed peaceful, Master," Anakin told him and finished getting dressed. "Besides, when was the last time you've actually slept in?"

"When I was a padawan. Force knows, I've always had to wake up early to find out what you were up to this time. You've never given me a moments rest," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin grinned. "But you like me anyway, Master," he said.

"You grew on me," Obi-Wan grumbled.

Anakin wrapped up his power bar to save the rest of it for later and put it away in one of the pouches on his utility belt. He was going to have to keep his word to Beru and eat something more sustainable. "We should join the others for the morning meal. I'm guessing that we'll have to get used to something other than rations for the time being," he said.

"Good, I've been waiting for a more filling meal away from those awful rations," Obi-Wan said pulling on his boots and cloak.

"They're not that bad," Anakin told him. Obi-Wan just shook his head at him as they left the room.

----------------------------------------

After breakfast Owen showed Anakin to the controls to the evaporators. Anakin had retrieved his old toolbox from his starfighter earlier so that he could actually do some work. Owen looked down at the rather old tools and then picked up one of the torches which Anakin quickly snatched out of his hands. "Hey, I was just looking!" Owen said.

"Nobody touches my tools but me," Anakin told him tightly.

"Those tools are rather old, are you sure they still work?" Owen asked eying the tools.

"They work just fine. I keep up their maintenance rigorously," Anakin told him flatly.

"Why don't you just buy new tools? I'm sure a new set would work out better," Owen said. He wasn't so sure about how well those tells would work too well. He didn't want to risk having Skywalker using faulty tools and damaging the evaporators even more.

"I'm not buying new tools," Anakin told him defiantly and then added quietly, "My mother bought these tools."

Owen nodded in understanding. He knew that Anakin had grieved his mother's death. But he wasn't sure if his grieving was tinged with guilt over abandoning her for a fools dream or for real loss. But Owen knew that him and his father had truly grieved over Shmi's death. After all Shmi was as close to a mother to Owen while she was alive. But whether she had loved him as a son he didn't know. After all, everything he did for her was thrown in his face every time she would mention 'her Ani'. How she held the son that abandoned her in slavery as he left for some grand adventurous life in such high esteem was beyond him. He never even made contact with his own mother. Why couldn't she see that her precious Ani had left her without a second thought? Why couldn't she accept him as he had accepted her.

"Already I see the problem. Some time back, someone botched up the mechanics. Give me a day or two and I'll have this thing as good as new," Anakin said through his close examination of the evaporator system.

"What are you talking about?" Owen demanded. He had been working on these evaporators his whole life. How can this jedi know what exactly was wrong with it when he knew nothing about it?!

Anakin pointed to a mechanism within the controls. "You see this plug here, it's back wards. And then there's the wiring, it's all wrong. And that's only the beginning. I'm surprised this thing even works at all!" he said.

"Now wait a second. How would you know how evaporators work? I've been working on these for almost twenty years! You don't know what you're talking about." Owen said on the defensive.

Anakin gave him a look that said that he was a bit blind. "I've been working on every kind of mechanics since I was three. I pretty much know what I'm talking about," he said.

Owen laughed. "That's rich. There is no why that you could have been working on mechanics at three years of age," he said.

Anakin frowned. He could feel the animosity radiating off of Owen. Animosity towards him. But Anakin couldn't think of a thing that he could have done to earn such animosity. "What exactly do you have against me, Owen?" he asked.

"I don't have anything against you, Skywalker," Owen lied.

Anakin's frown deepened. "You're lying. I can feel the animosity you have towards me. The problem is that I haven't done anything to earn it," he said.

Owen decided that lying wasn't an option to a jedi. This was his chance to put the arrogant jedi in his place. He was going to take it. "If you must know, I don't particularly hold people who abandon their mothers in high esteem," he said.

If looks would kill, the one that Anakin gave Owen should have disintegrated him. While the look on Anakin's face sent chills up Owen's spine, he decided not to let the jedi know this. Finally Anakin spoke. "I didn't abandon my mother, Owen. I can assure you. Apparently you don't have your facts right. It was my mother who gave me up. She pushed me to go with jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn. She gave me up so that I would know a life away from slavery. I honored my mothers wishes by leaving even though it pained me to leave her behind," he said calmly. But he was anything but calm. He was angry that this man who knew next to nothing about him accused him of abandoning his mother.

Owen refused to back down from the taller jedi. He pressed on despite the drop in temperature. "Call it what you will Skywalker, but you never made an attempt to contact her, when she needed you the most, you weren't around. Face the facts, you had left her to suffer while you enjoyed flying in the stars," he said.

That was it. He had pushed to far and now Anakin had grabbed him by the throat and slammed him hard against the wall. His face only inches away from Owens. "You know nothing! I was forbidden by the council to come looking for my mother when I sensed her pain. I would have been here sooner if not for the damned rules! The point of the matter is that I _did_ come," Anakin told him.

"Yes, but you were too late! And she died! You could have saved her, but you didn't!" Owen said.

Owen's words had sunk into Anakin's own guilt. They cut deep, opening up the old wound that was first cut as he held his mother's broken body in his arms. As he heard her last words to him as her life slipped away. Anakin released his grip on Owen and stepped back. Without a word, he picked up his tools and stalked away.

-------------------------------------------------

Anakin set his tools down in the room he was sharing with Obi-Wan. He then picked up piece of rock and threw it across the room where it crashed into a ceramic vase, shattering it beyond repair. He then sank down to his knees and placed his head into his hands. He took a deep breath and bowed his head. He refused to cry. He refused to let his negative feelings to take control. Owen's words had truly gotten to him. He tried to tell himself that he had done what his mother had wanted him to do. Hadn't she told him to not look back? Hadn't he honored her wishes? She wanted him to have a life of freedom. She wanted him to have what she couldn't give him. He couldn't have failed her. Her last words were to tell him that she was proud of him and that she loved him. But he had failed her. He didn't save her. He let his duties as a jedi take first place over his duties as a son. For that he couldn't forgive himself. At first he had blamed Obi-Wan and the council for his mother's death. But that went away when he realized that it was all his fault. He knew that she was suffering. He knew and he didn't do anything about it.

"Anakin, are you alright?"

Anakin stood up at Obi-Wan's voice. He put up his mask and turned to face Obi-Wan. "I'm fine," he said.

"Bantha poodoo. Something is bothering you and I demand to know what it is," Obi-Wan said. A sudden look of understand washed over him. "This is about your mother," he said.

"What makes you say that?" Anakin asked him turning away.

"Because I know you Anakin. I know how close you were to her. If I could change things. We could have defied the council and looked for Shmi together, had I not dismissed your dreams. I know that you must blame me for that much," Obi-Wan said.

"I don't blame you Obi-Wan. What's done is done. We can't undo the past, so why bother revisiting it?" Anakin said.

"Okay. We wont talk about it. But there's something else that you need to talk about, I can sense it," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin sat down on the bed he was supposed to sleep in. he knew that he wanted to tell Obi-Wan about him and Padme and this was the perfect time. Obi-Wan was well away from the council so that they can't sense his reaction. "Actually, there is something that I want to talk to you about," he said. "You'll probably want to sit down for it," he added.

"Why do I get the feeling that you did something you're not supposed to do?" Obi-Wan asked sitting down.

"Probably because I did," Anakin told him.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Obi-Wan grumbled. "Okay, spill. I'm sure that it can't be _that_ bad," he said.

"I'm married," Anakin said deciding that by dropping the bomb first was the best way to go about it.

Obi-Wan's eyes grew as his jaw dropped. No. Anakin didn't just say that. He was hearing things. "What!" he nearly screamed.

"Just when the war started I had gotten married," Anakin told him.

Yup, Obi-Wan had heard him right. "Do I even have to guess who you're married to?" he groaned. "It's Senator Amidala isn't it?" Anakin met his eyes at that and Obi-Wan knew it to be true. "Oh, Anakin you have no idea what kind of trouble you had gotten yourself into this time," he groaned. He rubbed his forehead with his hand and sighed. "I knew that you were carrying on with her, I just didn't think you'd actually marry her! Do you realize what will happen if the council found out?"

"Well I'd hope that Master Yoda would come to my defense since he's given his blessing and all," Anakin said offhandedly.

That did it, Obi-Wan was truly in shock. "You're lying!" he said. "There is no way that Master Yoda would agree to this," he said.

"Ask him yourself. Qui-Gon convinced him to give his blessing. For some odd reason, Qui-Gon keeps tabs on me and helps me out sometimes," Anakin said.

"Anakin. Qui-Gon is dead. I was there. There is no way that you can be communicating with him," Obi-Wan said tiredly.

"I can tell you why he hasn't spoken to you yet. You're in denial about the living force," Anakin told him.

"Anakin, we've been through this. The living force hasn't been prooven to exist," Obi-Wan told him.

"And I've told you that the council is wrong about many things. Just because something hasn't been prooven, doesn't mean it isn't real. I've seen the living force in action. It exists," Anakin told him.

"When have you seen the living force?" Obi-Wan asked him skeptically.

"Umm, well. I use it!" Anakin said and mentally smacked himself. Great answer Skywalker!

"You use it?" Obi-Wan said slowly. "Anakin have you lost it?"

"I hope not. I don't want to see what I could do if I went crazy," Anakin said nonchalantly.

"That's not funny, Anakin," Obi-Wan said flatly.

"I'm not trying to be funny."

Obi-Wan sighed. "What am I going to do with you?" he said shaking his head. "The council can't find out about your marriage to Senator Amidala. You'd be thrown out of the order. I don't want to see that happen. I only wish I was as bold as you," he said.

At his last words, Anakin's eye opened up wider. "How so?" he asked and then thought of something. "You love someone too, don't you?" he said coming to a conclusion.

"That was a long time ago," Obi-Wan told him.

"What happened?" Anakin asked him.

"Nothing happened. We just decided not to explore our feelings, that's all," Obi-Wan said.

"That's a load of rubbish. It's foolish to deny your feelings and shove them aside, they're what keeps us human. Anger, Hatred, fear. They're said to lead to the dark side. But what about love, joy and hope? How could such powerful emotions be wrong. The sith know nothing of them. They know nothing but Anger and hatred. They thrive on it, draw power from it. But the best counter agents against anger and hate are love, compassion, happiness and hope. I use them all. My power draws from all the good emotions I have inside of me. The order teaches you indifference, I disagree. To defeat anger and hatred, you need to know love and joy. The order should teach us how to control our emotions, not shove them aside," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan didn't know what to say to that. He had never heard Anakin speak of this. However he couldn't disagree with him. How could he when Anakin was right? "I can see that you've had a lot of time to think of this," he said.

"It's all I can ever think about sometimes," Anakin confessed. "If only the council would understand my reasoning and we were not at war, I could live my life away from the shadows, maybe have a real family with Padme. These thoughts are what keeps me going. I look for the end of this war where we can all live in peace. Where I'm no longer needed in battle. I could resign from the order if that is what it takes for me to live without fear of someone finding out. I don't fear what happens to me so much as what happens to the people I care about."

"I wish that things could be so easy, but they're not Anakin. Even if we did defeat Darth Sidious, there is still the republic to fix. The war wont be truly over for a long time. It's been forming even before Qui-Gon's death. We have no way of knowing whatever outcome this war has on the galaxy and we're no where close to ending the war," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin frowned. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy. But all he had was two years. That's all the jedi council of the force would allow him. It's as if they wanted him to fail. But if that was so then why give him this chance at all? He knew why. Qui-Gon had fought for it. Qui-Gon believed in him. He had to hold onto that. He had to hold onto sheer determination to ending this war. He now knew the worst outcome. An outcome he had created. Well he had the power to tip the scale didn't he? He was determined that Vader would never exist. He was going to stick to that even if it meant his dying. Vader was never going to rise.

-------------------------------------------------------------

_Anakin ran through the smoke filled temple every once and a while stopping at the fallen jedi only to find that they were already dead. He had to move quickly if he were to save them! All around him he could hear the firing of blasters as the clones took down the jedi. With the jedi spread so far apart, they were powerless to stop this threat to their home. He shuddered as he felt more lives being torn apart. Why couldn't he stop it? There was still time. He had to get to the younglings! More smoke filled his vision and he stopped just as a piece of the ceiling came down in front of him in flames. That way was now out. Frantically he looked around for another way. He found it. He had used this secret pathway all too many times before. He quietly slipped through the passage. He ignited his lightsaber using the blade to light his way through the dark tunnel. He had to hurry. He had to save them! The pathway grew narrower the higher he climbed, but he pressed on. Just a few more steps and he'd be out of the passage. He manged to get out unnoticed and quickly ran to the turbo lift. As soon as the doors opened, he jumped in, he pressed the code clearance in for the high council chambers. He only hoped that he wasn't too late. Finally the doors to the lift opened and he stepped into the seemingly empty council chambers. They were here and they were hiding. Finally one, a boy with blond hair reminding Anakin a lot of himself when he was that age, came out from his hiding place._

_Master Skywalker, there's so many of them, what should we do?" the boy asked fearfully._

_Anakin pulled the boy close to him. "It's okay, I wont let them harm you," he reassured the child. He would protect these children with his life. The monster will not harm them. Anakin sensed him coming closer. He knew where they were. The child could sense it too as he clung to him. Anakin rubbed the child's arm in assurance. The monster will not harm them! Finally he bent down to the child. "Go back to your hiding place and don't move or make a sound, okay," he told the child who nodded fearfully at Anakin before going back to his hiding place._

_Anakin waited in front of those doors. He was coming closer. He was going to kill them! No! Anakin wont let him! Anakin wont let him hurt them. He'll stop the monster from hurting these children! Finally the doors opened reveling the black cloaked figure of the new sith lord. Anakin gripped his lightsaber firmly in his hand and the sith lord scrutinized him from under his hood. The sith gripping his own lightsaber, a blood red one. The mark of a sith. Finally slowly, the sith looked Anakin straight in the eyes smirking at him. Anakin found himself staring into his own face. But it wasn't his. This face had sith yellow eyes!_

_No! he destroyed him once before, he'll destroy him once again! Somehow he had to get him away from the younglings. Coming to a decision, he moved into position gripping his lightsaber in his hands firmly. "You will not harm them, Vader. You'll have to get through me before you touch them," he said determinedly._

_Vader laughed evilly. "Fool. You cannot stop me. It's pointless to fight me. You cannot fight your destiny!" _

"_I choose my own destiny and mine is not yours!" Anakin said._

"_You're a fool. You have no idea of the power the dark side has to offer!" Vader said and effortlessly force pushed Anakin across the chamber, his lightsaber flying out of his hands and clattering across the chamber. Vader took quick strides towards him before he spied the boy. The same one who clung to Anakin moments before. Vader smirked at him as he pulled the boy out of his hiding place by his collar. The boy put up a good fight, but Vader was stronger and he brought his blade up to the boy. _

"_No!!!!!!!" Anakin screamed. _

Anakin shot up in bed. It was the dream again! But it had gone further this time. He quickly glanced across the room. Obi-Wan was still sleeping soundly. Anakin envied him and his ability to sleep so deeply and not have to worry about what he would see once he entered deep slumber. Rarely did Anakin let himself sleep deep enough. Because if he didn't succumb into a deep sleep, he wouldn't have the visions. Deciding that he wouldn't get anymore sleep that night, Anakin threw the covers off of himself and walked across the room and into the refresher where he splashed water on his face.

"Get a grip Skywalker. It's only a dream. It means nothing," he told himself and took a look at his own reflection sighing with relief that he saw blue eyes staring at himself in the mirror and not sith yellow. "I don't know what I'm afraid of. I'm not going to turn to the dark side. It's calling means little," he muttered. "Think about Padme, Luke and Leia. Think of how much you can hurt them by answering Sidious' calls. Think of the trap. To be a sith means to be a slave," he told himself. He closed his eyes calling on the force to calm him. He listened to Master Yoda's teachings. As he cleared his mind, he felt it's strength was over him. In moments he was calm, he had put the dream aside. He opened his eyes and jumped. He saw her again! She was standing right behind him smiling at him. Anakin turned around sharply expecting to see nothing and backed up against the sink. She was standing before him as he remembered her.

She reached out a hand to him and caressed his cheek with her palm. Anakin didn't want to close his eyes for fear that she would disappear. "Oh my Ani. My handsome son," she said smiling.

Anakin lifted his flesh hand up to touch the hand she was using to caress his cheek and found that she was real. He could feel her warm skin beneath his hand. "Mom?" he breathed.

"I love you so much, Ani. I'm so proud of you," she said fondly.

Anakin couldn't fight the tears that came. She was here with him. He had dreamed of this moment for such a long time. Never had he imagined that he would see her again or hear her speak again. The pain of her dying in his arms was still fresh. He prayed to the force to let this be real. "Stay with me Mom," he begged her. His voice was strangled as he pleaded with her. He couldn't bare to loose her again.

"Oh Ani, I never left you. I never will, I promise," she said wiping away his tears.

Anakin longed to reach out for her. To wrap his arms around her and never let her go, but he was frozen in place. All he could do was stare at her. He held her hand in place as it rested against his cheek. He knew this moment would pass. He knew that she would be gone again. His hand tightened around hers. "I'm sorry. I failed to save you. I wasn't strong enough," he told her.

She smiled sadly at him. "Oh Ani. You have nothing to be sorry about. Nothing at all," she told him gently. She then pressed a kiss to his forehead as she had done many times when he was a child. "I love you," she told him. And as soon as she had appeared she was gone.

Alone once again, Anakin sank to the floor and hugged his knees close to himself and rested his head against them. That was how Obi-Wan had found him when he finally did wake up.

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"I cannot believe you are dragging me to force knows what!" Obi-Wan muttered. "Why can't we just have a quiet evening?"

"I'm bored," Anakin told him as he pulled on his cloak. He clipped his single bladed lightsaber to his belt and tucked his other one into the sleeve of his tunic.

"Are you expecting trouble?" Obi-Wan asked.

"A jedi is never caught without his or her lightsaber," Anakin replied grinning at Obi-Wan. Anakin didn't show it, but he was anxious to get off of the homestead and do some roaming. Normally while on Coruscant, he would don a disguise and enter a bar to do some people watching, earning a sense of freedom away from who he was. He had very little luck here of that.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "The only reason I'm joining you is to keep you out of trouble. Something I know you'll just attract anyway," he said.

"What can I say, it's me! Where Anakin Skywalker goes trouble is sure to follow," Anakin said sarcastically. "It's always been that way," he added dreadfully.

"Maybe you just create trouble for yourself," Obi-Wan suggested.

"Na! That's not it," Anakin said dismissively. "Ready? I'd like to reach Mos Eisley before sun down," he said.

Obi-Wan sighed. "I'm ready," he said.

-------------------------------------------------------

By the time they had reached Mos Eisley, Obi-Wan was already green from all of Anakin's fast maneuvers. "I'm never riding in a speeder that you're piloting again!" Obi-Wan exclaimed using to force to calm his stomach.

"You know that it would have taken us longer if we did things your way," Anakin pointed out.

"So to save time, you'd risk suicide?!" Obi-Wan asked alarmed.

"Quite whining Master, it doesn't become you," Anakin said as the stepped out of the speeder with Obi-Wan in tow.

"I assume you know where we're going," Obi-Wan said as they pulled their hoods up and cloaks tighter around them.

"Well, it's not Mos Espa. But how different can each towns on Tatooine be? I mean, it's nothing but sand!" Anakin said.

"I very well know how you feel about Tatooine which is why you even suggested coming here in the first place that boggles me," Obi-Wan said.

"I needed a place to hide out for a while. Someplace where no one would think to find me. Is that a problem?" Anakin defended himself.

"What are you running from Anakin? I sense great fear in you," Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin didn't answer him. He couldn't burden Obi-Wan with Sidious' plans for him. Beside, Obi-Wan wouldn't believe him if he told him how he knew. "Look, lets just forget about the war and who we are for now. I need to be someone else tonight. Can we just do that?" Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan nodded under his hood. He sensed as much from him. "Fine. But you are going to have to tell me eventually what is going on. It's not a smart thing to do, keeping things bottled up. If you tell me what is going on, I will help you, Anakin," he paused. Having said what he needed to say, he let it go for now. "Now, what's our new identities?" he asked.

Anakin grinned. "I'm Luke, an orphan farm boy and you're Ben the hermit that lives near the jundland wasts," he said.

"Why exactly am I a hermit?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Consider it a part of a very weird dream I had," Anakin said grinning.

"I don't even want to know what goes on inside that head of yours," Obi-Wan said flatly.

They stopped outside the very cantina that Anakin had entered with Luke and Obi-Wan in the future where they met Han Solo. It wasn't as run down as it was when Anakin had approached it. "Remember we're not jedi tonight," Anakin reminded his mentor. They entered the darkened cantina which was filled with smoke and loud music blared from where a rowdy band played. The patrons within the cantina were of varies species. All of them scum, low life and villainy.

"Perfect place to hide out. I don't even want to know what the smoke is coming from," Obi-Wan said.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Ben?" Anakin asked using Obi-Wan's new alias.

"What you call adventure isn't the same as mine, _Luke,_" Obi-Wan said grinding out Anakin's chosen alias. "By the way, Why 'Luke'?" he asked.

"I like the name," Anakin said defensively.

"How many times have you gone out disguised as someone else?" Obi-Wan asked noticing how Anakin quickly ordered his drink at the bar and expertly watched the fellow patrons without drawing attention to himself.

"I do it as often as I can. You learn different things from people. Or sometimes I make up stories to go along with someone of interest. It's quite fun sometimes," Anakin told him. He then looked around the cantina and focused on a blue female twi'lek dressed in some sort of biker garb. She was sipping a sort of green liquid, her eyes focused on a few bikers. "See her," he said nodding to the twi'lek, she's looking at the bikers wondering if one of them killed her lover," he said making up a story off of the top of his head.

Obi-Wan looked over at the female twi'lek believing that something seemed familiar about her and then she caught his eye. "Anakin, you do realize who that twi'lek is, don't you?" he asked.

Anakin had tipped his head back as he finished his alcoholic beverage in one gulp. He signaled to the bartender for a refill and turned back to Obi-Wan. "I don't know who she is and I don't care. Not tonight. I have more important things on my mind," he said.

"Anakin that's Aayla Secura! I wonder what, she's doing here," Obi-Wan said.

At the mention of the jedi's name, Anakin spit out the sip he had just taken from his second refill, spraying it over Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan frowned. "Thanks a lot!" he said wiping his face.

"Sith spawn! Out of all the places and all the nights! Why can't I ever get a break!" Anakin said banging his head on the bar.

"Quite the dramatics, I'm sure her being here has nothing to do with us," Obi-Wan told him rolling his eyes. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Aayla sauntered over to the bar and ordered a drink. "Don't tell me that we're in trouble already," Obi-Wan whispered to her.

"You're not. Give this to Skywalker. Master Yoda felt that it would be of interest to him, that is if he's not drunk," Aayla said slipping something into Obi-Wan's pocket.

"I care hear you. Now go away, you're ruining my escape from life," Anakin muttered hunched over the bar and nursing whatever foul alcoholic beverage he had ordered this time.

Aayla raised an eyebrow at Obi-Wan questionably. Obi-Wan leaned in close to her. "He's been having a hard time lately. The eve of his mother's death, it's getting to him. He'll be fine by morning," he whispered the cover up for Anakin's behavior. Aayla nodded in understanding before paying for her drink and leaving the cantina.

"Give me another," Anakin said to the bartender.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at the five scattered bottles that had suddenly appeared in front of Anakin in such a short period of time. "No, You've had enough. I'd hate to see how you'd end up if I weren't around," Obi-Wan said sternly stopping the bartender from giving Anakin another bottle.

"Spoil sport," Anakin muttered dryly and looked around. "I've had enough of this smoke, lets have a look around Mos Eisley. There are some things I'd like to see," he said paying for their drinks.

"What would Padme say if saw you drinking like you were?" Obi-Wan hissed at Anakin.

Anakin shrugged. "What? That? That was nothing. It takes a lot more for me to get drunk if that's what you're thinking. Besides, I rarely drink," he said dismissively.

"How much is too much for you then?" Obi-Wan asked him.

Anakin scratched his head. "I honestly don't know. I've never been drunk. I mean I have drank a lot before, but I've never been drunk," he said.

"Interesting," Obi-Wan said. By now the twin suns had set and it had grown quite dark. But Anakin was persistent that they stay out late. For some odd reason he wanted to be away from the Lars Homestead for a while. He guessed that it was about his mother. His guess was confirmed with Anakin's next question.

"Say you believe in the living force, better yet think back on what Qui-Gon had taught you about it. Do you think it's possible for a non force sensitive to retain their identity in the afterlife?" Anakin asked.

"It's never been theorized, why?" Obi-Wan answered.

"I've seen my mother. But not so much as a ghost but she had a body, I've felt it. She seemed so real. Like she hadn't died. If I wasn't there and felt her die, I'd have believed that she was in fact alive. Does that make me sound like I'm crazy?" Anakin said.

"No. It doesn't make you crazy, Anakin. Your mother's death is still fresh, you're bound to have these kind of visions. It's called mourning. I went through the very same thing," Obi-Wan told him.

"I don't think that what I'm experiencing is normal," Anakin told him. He stopped himself from rubbing his temples as he felt another massive headache coming on. He tried to use to force to ease it away only that seemed to make it worse.

Obi-Wan glanced over at Anakin when he said that. He couldn't read his expression due to his hood covering his face. But he could sense what Anakin had meant by that. No. Nothing was ever normal for Anakin. His dreams in fact weren't normal. Obi-Wan wasn't stupid. He knew that Anakin had more than once purposely kept himself from sleeping normally in order to keep the visions away. The hard thing was that everything was made extra hard for Anakin due to that one ancient prophecy.

As the rounded a corner they found themselves surrounded by some sort of alien thugs. The leader walked up to them. "Skywalker is it?" he said.

"Who wants to know?" Anakin asked coolly.

The thug grinned showing gleaming green razor sharp teeth. "Someone's put a bounty for your head, jedi," he said coldly and gripped his blaster.

Anakin shared a look with Obi-Wan as the rest of the thugs all had their blasters aimed at them. "Well what did I tell you, Anakin? You just always have to attract trouble everywhere you go," Obi-Wan said and sighed.

"It is not my intention, Master," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan sighed. "How do you suppose we'll get out of this one?" he asked dramatically.

"I don't know, twenty blasters against the two of us. Hardly seems fair," Anakin said with a heavy sigh.

"Don't make any sudden moves jedi. You'll find yourself dead if you do," the leader said.

Anakin just grinned as his and Obi-Wan's lightsabers came to life. Instantly the thugs opened fire. Anakin and Obi-Wan stood back to back as they circled and blocked the laser fire.

"This is fun!" Anakin said.

"I'm not sure that I share your idea of fun, Anakin," Obi-Wan said and blocked more fire.

"Still, I'd like to know how they knew to fins us!" Anakin said blocking more fire. The pain in his head growing more intense. Finally it began to feel as though it were going to explode! He dropped to his knees and placed his head in his hands fighting the urge to scream. It was happening again and this time it was worse.

Obi-Wan quickly glance at Anakin growing alarmed at Anakin's position on his knees, his face covered in his hands so close the ground. He shivered as he felt the pain radiating off of him until finally it passed. "Anakin! Are you alright?" he asked barely able to reach him as he was now blocking the fire for both of them. Anakin didn't answer him. But he slowly rose and Obi-Wan felt the temperature drop around him. Something was wrong. Oh terribly wrong. "Anakin?" he called out.

Anakin's right gloved hand reached out suddenly and instantly the thugs in that direction grabbed their throats gasping. Obi-Wan watched in horror as they turned red and then blue before the crunching sound of bone filled the air. Anakin didn't stop there. He had taken out the thugs that way until there was only one left. The leader. Anakin advanced on him and the thug pulled up his blaster aiming it at Anakin's heart but before he could fire the shot, the weapon was yanked out of his hands and thrown somewhere far away. Finally Anakin's right hand grabbed the thugs fat bulging throat, pushed him up against as wall and added pressure slowly. "Who put out the bounty?" Anakin demanded. But it wasn't Anakin's voice.

Obi-Wan knew that he had to stop it now! Whatever had come over Anakin wasn't something fitting of a jedi. "Anakin! Let him go! He's defenseless!" he commanded.

"That name has no meaning for me, Kenobi," Anakin said coldly. He intensified the pressure on the thug's throat and the thug gasped in pain. "I will ask you again, who put out the bounty?" he demanded.

"I...don't...know...instructions... were ...made... to... find... you... and... bring... you... to... the... Mustafar... system," the thug said gasping for breath.

"Pity that you've failed before you can collect your reward," Anakin said icily before snapping the thugs throat.

Obi-Wan looked at the crumpled body in horror. He sensed Anakin turn around to face him and he grew pale as Anakin looked at him with sith yellow eyes! He was coming towards him and he knew that he had to stop him. Calling upon the force he used it to put Anakin in a deep force induced sleep. Obi-Wan quickly caught Anakin before he fell unconscious. "Oh, Anakin, what just happened to you?" he said sadly picking up Anakin's dropped lightsaber. He hefted Anakin's limp form over his shoulder and proceeded to take him back to the speeder. What ever had killed those thugs, he knew that it wasn't Anakin.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin came too and groaned. "My head," he groaned.

"It's about time that you woke up. I had actually taken you out of the forced induced sleep hours ago," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin sat up and looked around. His was in the Lars guest room! How did her get here? What happened with the thugs? "What happened?" he asked desperately.

"You don't know?" Obi-Wan asked surprised.

"How'd I get here, what happened with the thugs?" Anakin asked frantically.

"You killed them Anakin," Obi-Wan told him.

"What?! No I couldn't have!" Anakin said sounding scared.

"Anakin I saw you choke them with the force. I saw you crush the leaders neck with your own hand!" Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin drew his knees to his chest and fisted his hands through his hair and started rocking. "No, no, no, no, no, this isn't happening," he muttered.

"Anakin, your eyes turned to sith yellow when you did that. Whatever you've been hiding you need to tell me now," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin shook his head. "No! This isn't happening! It's gotten worse!" he muttered.

At that Obi-Wan's eyes widened. "This has happened before?" he asked. Anakin didn't say anything which gave Obi-Wan his answer. "When did it start, Anakin?" he asked.

"I couldn't. I wouldn't do those things!" Anakin muttered trying to deny it.

"Anakin I saw you!" Obi-Wan told him.

"No!" Anakin shouted.

A thought dawned on Obi-Wan. "You don't remember doing it, do you?" he asked.

"I didn't do it!" Anakin shouted.

"When did this start, Anakin?! You need to tell me so that I can help you!" Obi-Wan yelled at him sternly.

"You can't help me!" Anakin told him.

"When did it start?!" Obi-Wan asked again.

Anakin didn't answer him. He couldn't. He didn't understand. What was happening to him? Was his fall inevitable? No! He refused to believe that. He couldn't. He was supposed to change it!

Obi-wan suddenly didn't need an answer from Anakin to know when it had happened. Anakin had been fueled by rage so soon after it had happened. "What happened when you mother died, Anakin?" he asked. "What did you do?"

"I don't know!" Anakin yelled.

"Yes you do, Anakin. Tell me!" Obi-Wan demanded.

"I don't remember!"

"But you know what happened, Anakin. I can sense it. Tell me!"

"I killed them! I don't remember doing it! But I know I did it! One moment I was holding my mother as she died and the next I was in the middle of their camp! Their mutilated and dead bodies were everywhere! I was still holding my lightsaber. I killed them! Not just the men, but the women and the children. I slaughtered them like animals!" Anakin confessed and placed his head in his hands and shook. Why was this happening to him?

Obi-Wan felt helpless as he saw Anakin fall apart. Whatever was happening to Anakin, he had to help him through it. He couldn't stand to see him suffer like this. Obi-Wan pulled Anakin into an embrace in an attempt to comfort him. "We'll sort this out, Anakin. You need to trust me. I'll not let you suffer through this alone," he told him. He felt Anakin stiffen before he began to calm down. He knew that he had to alert the council on this. What was affecting Anakin was affecting them all. He was going to get all the help he could get for Anakin. "You'll need to rest, Anakin. I'm going to contact Master Yoda. It's time we went back to Coruscant. Only then can we get you some help," he said.

Once Anakin was calmed down enough to lay down and get some rest, only then did Obi-Wan leave the room to send a message to Master Yoda. Anakin lay in the bed curled up facing the wall. He knew that there was no way he'd be able to sleep tonight. Not after what he'd done. Then he felt as if he were not alone anymore. He didn't have to turn around to know who was there. "What do you want Owen?" he asked.

"We heard you're voices and knew that you were awake. Beru sent me in here with some food convinced that you needed to eat," Owen said walking into the room and set the tray down. He looked at the way Anakin was laying and knew that he wasn't about to face him. He sighed. "I owe you an apology, Anakin," he said.

"For what?" Anakin asked him. He still wouldn't face him.

"I was in the wrong to have said what I did the other week. I apologize," Owen said and was about to leave the room when he was called back.

"Was my mother happy?" Anakin asked him.

"She was. But I will not lie, she would have been even more happy if you were around," Owen said and was at the door when Anakin spoke next.

"You were right," Anakin told him which made Owen freeze. "I failed my mother. I knew she was suffering. I put my duties as a jedi first as I tried to convince myself that it was just a dream. I could have saved her, but I came too late. I will never forgive myself for that," he said.

This certainly wasn't what he had expected Anakin to say. He had expected for Anakin to deny that he had failed. But hearing those words out of Anakin's mouth somehow felt wrong. Then he heard him whisper.

"I miss my mom," Anakin whispered.

Owen's heart went out at hearing Anakin speak in a broken voice. He knew that Anakin had truly loved his mother as she loved him. "I know the feeling," Owen told him. "My mother died too." he continued on. "For what it's worth. The only way you could have failed her would be to wallow in self guilt," he said.

"I promised her that I would come back for her and that I would find a way to free her. I never made good on that promise," Anakin whispered.

"She was happy, Anakin. She lived eight years in freedom. And she was happy," Owen told him. He took another step towards the door before he was called back.

"Owen?"

Owen turned then. Anakin still hadn't moved. "Yes?" he asked.

"Thank you," Anakin said.

"Anytime, Anakin. If ever you need to talk about it, you know where I am," Owen told him and left the room.

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The next morning when Obi-Wan awoke, he found that Anakin was already gone. His bag had went missing. Quickly throwing the cover off of him, he quickly walked into the Lars dining room to find the Lars family eating their morning meal. But Anakin was no where insight. "Where did Anakin go?" he asked them.

"He's outside," Cliegg told him.

Obi-Wan nodded and quickly went outside searching for Anakin and when he found him, he nearly broke. Anakin was laying on top of his mother's grave. How long has he been there?

"He's been laying there since you had fallen asleep."

Obi-Wan jumped and quickly turned to his side and stared in shock. Qui-Gon was standing next to him watching Anakin sadly. "How?" he asked.

"Amazing! After all that I've taught you and you still don't believe in the living force," Qui-Gon frowned.

"Anakin's not crazy. Oh how the council would react upon hearing this!" Obi-Wan said pressing a hand to his forehead.

"Obi-Wan. Anakin needs you now more than ever. The dark side is trying to close in on him. You must help him get through this. Anakin must pull himself together or Sidious will win," Qui-Gon told him.

"How do I even begin to help him? I don't even know what is happening to him. It was so quick that dreadful transformation in Mos Eisley. I fear for him," Obi-Wan said.

"He needs to see a healer and try to talk about what is happening. I fear that there is something most deadly living inside of him. He needs to learn how to control it. Get him back to Coruscant as soon as possible. He's more in danger away from the jedi than in Sidious' grasp. As long as he's around the jedi can we keep Sidious away from him," Qui-Gon told him.

"How can we keep Anakin away from the sith lord if he's the chosen one?" Obi-Wan asked him.

"Their destinies will meet, but he's not ready for it. Help him, Obi-Wan. He needs you," Qui-Gon told him before leaving.

Obi-Wan nodded. The time to leave was now. He went back inside to retrieve his own bag before coming back outside. He knelt down next to Anakin. "Come now, Anakin, it's time for us to return home," he said helping Anakin to stand reluctantly. To his surprise, Anakin gave no response as they walked back to their starfighters.

* * *

A/N: Well I did promise a long chapter. I know many questions about what is going on with Anakin. all will be revealed in due time. Hahahaha.

Charlie.


	21. Split

A/N: Finally we see what is wrong with Anakin. Hahahahahahaha. I am evil. Well not much happens in this chapter, but we'll see about the next chapter.

Well this is chapter twenty one. I must say that I have never got a fic to last this long. Lets see how long I can make the story. It now has been two moths since I started this story! Woo hoo!. I've also started a yahoo group for the story, you can find the link in my profile. And don't miss the stolen moments fic that goes along with the universe of this story. It's just short little dribbles from the years in between the movies and the stories. They might contain spoilers, but I don't care.

* * *

When Obi-Wan and Anakin returned to the temple on Coruscant, Master Yoda was at the hanger to greet them. Obi-Wan could tell that he was just as troubled about what was happening to Anakin as he was. For most of the flight home, Anakin had stayed silent. It was obvious to Obi-Wan that whatever was happening to him, Anakin was most afraid of himself and what he is capable of.

"Troubling news this is," Yoda said looking pointedly at Anakin as they walked through the temple. "Send you away from Sidious' influence, give you time to reflect and collect yourself I did! Was it for nothing?"

"I'm sorry Master," Anakin said not looking the grand master in the eyes.

Master Yoda humphed. "From Master Kenobi's description of what happened, you seemed to loose control, yet you know nothing of what you did," he said. "Most troubling."

"What do you suggest we do to help, Master? I refuse to give up on Anakin. I know that whatever is taking control is not him," Obi-Wan said.

"Minga Durron has just returned from her work on Alderaan. Experience in all healing fields she is, including Psychology. Agreed to see Skywalker, she has," Yoda told them.

At that Anakin snapped to attention. "I'm not crazy! I don't need a psychiatrist!" he protested.

Master Yoda slammed his gimer stick onto the marble floor. "Up for discussion, this matter is not! Very serious this is! If determined not to let come to past that which you have seen, then you will follow my orders!" he said stubbornly.

"Yes Master," Anakin said humbly.

"You will see Minga Durron right away. Figure out what is happening we must or the sith will take over," Master Yoda said gravely.

"Master, you don't think that the sith are trying to take over Anakin, do you?" Obi-Wan asked.

"After his abilities, Lord Sidious is. Stop him we must before he destroys Skywalker," Master Yoda told him.

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin fearfully. He can't lose Anakin that way! He just can't. Judging from Anakin's body language and their recant trip to Tatooine, Obi-Wan realized that Anakin knew. Anakin also knew the identity of Darth Sidious. Did Master Yoda know as well? Obi-Wan caught Master Yoda's eyes and he knew that Anakin had confided in Master Yoda. "What can I do to help?" he asked.

"Stay with Skywalker you will. Next time this happens be there you must," Master Yoda said and then added in a whisper. "Understand that Senator Amidala has a spare bedroom in her apartment I do," he said so that only Obi-Wan and Anakin could hear.

"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan said glancing at Anakin who hadn't said anything. Finally they reached the medical bay and met up Minga Durron.

Anakin looked up as he sensed Minga studying him. He knew that she would know nothing of when he had last seen her. He also knew that he could trust Minga, after all, she had been most kind to him when he had first arrived at the temple to start his training and later became his friend. When the other jedi stared and whispered about him or stayed away, Minga had often brought Anakin into the medical bay to teach him about healing. She was the only jedi padawan to befriend him. Whatever he told Minga, he knew that he could trust her to keep it to her self.

"It's nice to see you again Anakin," Minga said. "How is the arm?" she asked.

"I still have full usage. I keep up with the physical therapy regularly. I barely even feel the phantom pain anymore," Anakin told her.

Minga smiled. "I'm glad. I'm sure that you would like to talk about what is happening alone," she said and looked pointedly At Obi-Wan and Master Yoda.

"We wont be far, Anakin," Obi-Wan said resting a hand on Anakin's shoulder. Anakin met his eyes but didn't say a word as as the two jedi masters left.

Once they were alone Minga spoke up. "How are you feeling Anakin?" she asked him.

"I'm not crazy Minga," Anakin told her flatly.

"No one thinks that you are crazy Anakin. I'm alarmed at this new change in you but one thing I know that you're not is crazy. Now talk to me. I know that I've been gone for the past two years, but I'm still your friend. So right now we'll just talk as what we are to each other, friends," Minga told him. "What's going on?" she asked.

Anakin didn't look at her, instead he fingered the Alderaanian statuette she had displayed. "I don't know if I can explain it where I don't sound crazy," he told her.

"Try me," she told him.

Anakin sighed and slumped down in a chair. "I honestly don't know what's wrong with me. I'm doing everything I can to stop it from happening, but then something will happen that makes me question if it's inevitable," he told her.

"What happens to make you question yourself?" she asked him. She sat down opposite of him and took his hands in hers.

"That's the thing, I don't know. All I know is that it started when my mother died. I'll black out and when I come to I'm shown evidence that I did something terrible. I'll get a warning every now and then when I'll have one of those black outs though," Anakin told her.

"What kind of warning do you get?" she asked him.

"Headaches, massive ones. I try to use to force to ebb them away, but that only makes them grow stronger," he told her.

Minga nodded. "It didn't start until your mother died? Tell me about that. I understand that it was only two years ago that she died," she said.

Anakin shook his head and stood up. He looked out through a window looking down into the streets. "You know about how I can see things in my sleep, right?" he said.

Minga nodded. "Yes. I've even given you something for a dreamless sleep every once in a while because of it," she said.

"I dreamed of my mother. She was suffering, I could feel her pain. It was disturbing. I told Obi-Wan about them and asked him if I could see if she was alright. But the council wouldn't let me. They insisted that they were just dreams and that I should stay focused on my training. I reluctantly agreed because I knew that my mother gave me strict orders to listen to them and to not look back when she sent me away. But the dreams didn't go away. Finally when I was assigned to escort Senator Amidala back to Naboo due to attempts on her life. She heard me muttering in my sleep and asked me about it. It was on her assistance that I finally went back to Tatooine to check on my mother. When I got there I found out that Watto had soled her to a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars who freed her and married her. But when I arrived on the Lars homestead she wasn't there. She had been kidnapped by a tribe of tuskan raiders a month before. They had tried to convince me that they had done everything that they could to get her back but by that time there was no hope that she was still alive. I refused to accept it. So I went searching for her. I found the camp that she was being held prisoner in that night. But I was too late. She was barely alive when I had gotten to her. I held her in my arms as she died. After that I don't remember," Anakin told her.

Minga walked up to him and placed her hand on his arms. "I'm sorry Anakin. I know that it must have been painful," she told him.

Anakin nodded. "You have no idea, Minga. I don't imagine anyone here at the temple would even begin to understand how painful it was," he said.

"What is the first thing you remember after your mother died?" Minga asked him.

Again Anakin turned away from her and crossed his arms. "I think I killed them, no slaughtered them. Every last one of them. Not just the men, but the women and the children. The evidence was all there. I still had my lightsaber ignited in my hand and everywhere I looked as I turned around in the camp, I saw their mutilated and dead bodies," he told her.

"That doesn't sound like you Anakin. I don't believe that you are capable of that," Minga told him.

Anakin looked at her when she said that. "How do you know?!" he yelled and turned away from her again. "I don't even know what I'm capable of anymore," he told her.

Minga grabbed his arm and forced him to face her. "Obi-Wan seems to think that something more sinister is behind this. Let me help you. There's a way to figure out what exactly is happening, but for me to be sure we need to recover those moments out of your subconscious," she told him.

"What are you talking about Minga?" he asked her.

"I'm talking about hypnosis. I learned about it during my study on Byss some years ago. The medicine men would use it to help people recover from amnesia. It's very useful in bringing back lost memories. Do you think that you could handle that?" Minga told him.

"Would it help you get to the bottom of what ever is happening to me?" Anakin asked her.

"It might," Minga said. "Would you trust me enough to use it on you?" she asked.

"I want to know why this is happening to me," he told her.

"Alright. When would you like to start?" she asked.

"I want to get to the bottom of this, yesterday," Anakin told her.

Minga nodded. "Why don't you lay down then," she said indicating the examining table on the other side of the room.

Anakin nodded and walked over to the examining table. He sat down on the examining table before laying down. Minga came over with a syringe filled with a sort of clear liquid in it and Anakin stiffened, Vader's memories of torturing Leia with the mind probe surfaced through his mind.

Minga noticed this. "We don't have to do this Anakin," she told him.

"No. I trust you," he said forcing his body to relax as he pushed Vader's memories from his mind.

Minga nodded as she pushed his sleeve up exposing his muscled arm. Without a moments hesitation she injected the liquid into his system. Moments later Anakin's mind relaxed. While he was very aware of everything around him, he knew that he would have no control over what he would say next. Whatever Minga asked him, his mind would answer her and he was unable to keep these things from her.

"How do you feel Anakin?" Minga asked.

"Scared," Anakin numbly told her.

"What are you afraid of Anakin?" Minga asked gently.

"The dark side of the force," Anakin said still in that numb tone of voice.

Minga sat down in the seat next to the examining table. "Is it Darth Sidious? Is his use of the dark side that frightens you?" she asked.

"No. I don't fear Sidious. I plan to kill him as soon as I can. He's not the one who I fear the most," Anakin told her.

Minga nodded. "Who from the dark side scares you?" she asked.

"Darth Vader," he told her.

Minga was confused. Wasn't Darth Sidious' apprentice was Darth Tyranus, formally Jedi Knight Dooku? Who was Darth Vader? "Who is Darth Vader, Anakin?" she asked him. She wasn't expecting his next answer.

"I am," Anakin told her.

Minga stood up in shock. No! Anakin wasn't a sith lord. He couldn't. It didn't make sense. But then something clicked in her memory. She had learned about this a long time ago when she started studying psychology. It was unheard of for centuries. But with everything else that was presented. The times that he couldn't remember, he had used the dark side of the force. Could it be possible? She needed to get more information out of him to be sure.

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To say that Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was worried would be an understatement. No. He was afraid. Afraid of what was happening to Anakin. So he stood outside of the medical bay with Master Yoda, waiting for Minga Durron to tell them what she had found out. Sometime after Anakin began talking to Minga, Master Windu had joined them, clearly also worried over Anakin. Obi-Wan wasn't sure how much Mace knew about Anakin's situation so he had kept quiet for the moment. Finally after three long agonizing hours Minga came out to greet them and the look on her face told him that it wasn't good.

"Found out what is happening to young Skywalker, have you?" Master Yoda asked.

Minga nodded. "I think maybe you all should sit down," she told them. Neither jedi sat down and she sighed. "I'm afraid that Anakin is suffering from the beginnings of D.I.D. Dissociative Identity Disorder. It hasn't been seen for a long time, but I am positive that this is the case. Mostly what triggers D.I.D is witnessing a traumatic event. Shmi Skywalker's brutal death being the event that has brought this upon him," she told them.

"And this other identity that has developed inside young Skywalker, who is he?" Master Yoda asked gravely.

"This other identity calls himself Darth Vader," Minga told them gravely.

Obi-Wan suddenly felt as though the air had been ripped from his lungs at that one sentence. "A...a sith lord." he said suddenly not feeling too good.

Mace turned to Master Yoda sharply. "I don't like this, Skywalker is now a danger to us all," he said.

"Only a danger he is if this sith lord takes over his body. Help him conquer this we must," Master Yoda said thumping his gimer stick.

"Minga, what do you suggest we do to help Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Well I suggest that he gets therapy regularly which means that he comes to see me once every week that he's on Coruscant. I don't suggest missions that will take him away for months on end. The less stress he has, the better. Also I proscribed some medication for him to take each time he has a slight headache to help him regain control. There are about three different medications that he must take now and it's up to you Obi-Wan to make sure he takes it. Also I'll give you a datapad with information on D.I.D," Minga told them.

"How did he take the news?" Obi-Wan quickly asked her.

"He's asking for you and Master Yoda," Minga told him.

"Skywalker's fear coming true in his mind it is," Master Yoda said gravely.

"I will inform the rest of the council about this. We must decide on how we are going to prevent this Darth Vader from taking over Skywalker," Mace said bowing to the others before walking away from the medical bay.

"Master Yoda, did Anakin see this Darth Vader in a vision?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Saw the future Skywalker has if Darth Vader had come to exist," Master Yoda said gravely.

"Exactly how much did Anakin see?" Minga asked concerned.

"Told me in confidence Skywalker has," Master Yoda said strictly before walking into the room where Anakin was slumped in a chair. Obi-Wan and Minga followed him into the room.

Anakin sensed their entrance but didn't look up. His worst fear is staring him in the face. Darth Vader now exists. He is a part of him. It was a reality he had hoped to avoid. How exactly was he supposed to stop Vader's destruction now? "What should I do now Master?" he asked looking strictly at both Master Yoda and Obi-Wan.

"Minga, could we have a moment?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Certainly," Minga said exiting the room.

"Take extra steps to make sure that this Darth Vader does not come out we should," Master Yoda said.

"How do you suppose that we do that?" Anakin asked.

"Mediate on this I will," Master Yoda said and then added, "Mediation I suggest to you as well young Skywalker." he then left leaving Obi-Wan and Anakin alone.

"Tell me about what you have seen in this vision of yours, Anakin," Obi-Wan said gently.

"It wasn't a vision, Obi-Wan," Anakin told him meeting his eyes.

"Okay then. What was it then?" Obi-Wan asked skeptically.

"I somehow took a trip into the future," Anakin told him bluntly.

If it were possible Obi-Wan's eyes popped out of their sockets at that statement but he soon recovered. "Anakin, this is no time for jokes," he said flatly.

"I'm not joking Master. I really was in the future," Anakin told him sincerely.

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin skeptically. He truly believed that he had been in the future. Well he was just going to humor him at the moment. "Okay, say I believe you on this, What exactly happened in the future?" he asked.

Anakin took a deep breath and told him. He told him everything. From Order sixty six and the formation of the empire and his meting his children and the rebellion. He told him about it all. Including his act of the unthinkable on Vader to which Obi-Wan grew pasty white at.

Sometime in the middle of the tale Obi-Wan had sat down and now that it was over he was taking it all in. He looked at Anakin's serious face and he knew that he was telling the truth. Of force! "How long do we have until this empire is formed and we're eliminated?" he asked.

"A year and eleven months," Anakin told him simply and stood up. "I refuse to let these events happen. I have to stop it, but I don't know how. Palpatine has been planning this for years! How do I put an end to years worth of planing in such a short time?!"

"You don't have to do it alone, Anakin. Chancellor Palpatine is threatening all of the jedi, this is our fight as much as yours," Obi-Wan told him.

"No. You cannot help me, Obi-Wan. You'll die if you do, I cannot allow that to happen," Anakin told him.

There was no way that Obi-Wan was going to let Anakin do this alone, but he didn't pres the issue. "What about Padme? How much does she get to know?" he asked.

"She knows that the Chancellor is the sith lord we've been looking for, but other than that, she knows nothing," Anakin told him. "I should get back to her and let her know that I'm home."

"She'll be at the senate right now, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him.

"I know. I just need to be alone for now," Anakin told him heading for the door.

"Anakin, don't do anything foolish. I'll meet you at Senator Amidala's soon. I believe that I'll be needed by the council for now," Obi-Wan said. He knew that Anakin needed time to adjust to his new situation and he understood. He'd feel the same way if he were in the same spot.

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Anakin stepped out off of the turbo lift and walked into the apartment. It was empty save for him Threepio and Artoo. Artoo had left him in the living room to get charged up leaving Anakin alone. He walked through the apartment out to the veranda. He sat down on the couch with his shoulders slumped and hung his head over his clasped hands. Oh what a mess he was in. He could use Luke's wisdom or Leia's guidance right now. Both of them would know what to say at this moment. But he couldn't picture telling either of them that a sith lord lived inside of him. He couldn't bare to see the look of horror on their faces. Somehow he had to keep the monster at bay. But was Vader's surfacing inevitable? Was the future destined to happen despite everything? Was his family supposed to fall apart because of him? If only he had ignored the orders rules when he could save his mother, maybe this wouldn't have happened. What could his mother say to this? She had believed that he was meant for greatness. That he was meant to help the galaxy. Then why was it falling apart with nothing he could do to stop it?

"Oh Master Ani! You're back. I hope your trip was safe," Threepio said.

"Yeah, it was fine, Threepio," Anakin said not looking up at the droid. It was anything but fine.

"Can I get you anything?" Threepio asked.

"No, I'm fine. Now go away and make yourself busy," Anakin said.

"I barely understand humans sometimes," Threepio muttered as he left the veranda.

Anakin sighed and laid back on the couch. He laid there on his back with the hood of his cloak covering his face. Suddenly he felt tired and he fell asleep like that.

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Padme came home after a long day of debating in the senate. Something felt different. "Threepio!" she called as she walked into the living room. She took off her cloak and placed it over the back of the couch and looked out the window. Coruscant was the same. She turned back to the living room just as Threepio came in.

"Oh Mis Padme! Is there anything I can do for you?" Threepio asked.

"Yes, could you fix something for dinner," she said giving a polite order.

"Right away miss. Would you like to be served out on the veranda?" Threepio said.

Padme looked at the droid confused for a moment. "No. Why would you ask that?" she asked.

"Oh, it's just that Master Ani has been out on the veranda for three hours. I just assumed that you would like to join him," Threepio said.

"Ani's home!" Padme said eyes lighting up.

"Why yes Miss. He arrived about three hours ago. He's been out on the veranda ever since," Threepio said.

Without another word, Padme left the living room and went strait to the veranda where she found Anakin laying on the couch with his face covered by the hood of his cloak. She sat down on the edge of the couch and lifted the hood from his face to find him fast asleep. She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him. She held her hand on the base of his jaw as she kissed him. Slowly she felt a response as a hand tangled itself in her hair. Padme leaned away to find Anakin's blue eyes staring at her.

"That's some way to wake up," he said smiling for the first time that day.

"How was your trip?" Padme asked.

"It was interesting," was all that Anakin would say.

Padme looked at him skeptically. "There's something you are not telling me," she said.

Anakin sat up and looked her in the eye. "Something happened," he told her. He was going to have to tell her eventually about Vader, the sooner the better.

"Miss Padme, Master Ani! There is an Obi-Wan Kenobi here to see you," Threepio said coming out onto the veranda interrupting the two.

"E chu ta!" Anakin cursed earning a stern look from Padme.

"Anakin, that isn't necessary," Padme said and stood up. "I wonder why Obi-Wan is here at this time," she said.

"He's staying with us for the time being. Master Yoda wants him to keep an eye on me," Anakin told her and stood up.

"Does this have to do with your trip to Tatooine?" Padme asked him.

"Sort of," Anakin said standing up. "I'm going to talk to him." and he left the veranda leaving Padme to watch him confusedly before she too left the veranda and went into the living room where Anakin and Obi-Wan were.

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"You didn't tell her?" Obi-Wan asked Anakin surprised. At least that that's how Padme interpreted it.

"Tell me what?" she asked making both jedi turn to face her. Anakin's hand quickly ran through his slightly longer hair as Obi-Wan folded his arms.

"You better tell her Anakin, it's not wise to keep something this big from her," Obi-Wan said.

"I know I know, I just..." Anakin said.

Padme crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "Well, I'm listening," she said.

"Dinner is served. I assume that Master Kenobi is staying as well," Threepio said interrupting them.

Anakin looked apologetically at both Padme and Obi-Wan. "I think we should eat, I don't want to fix Threepio when he short circuits," he said.

"Short circuit? Master Ani, why would you say such dreadful thing?" Threepio said.

Padme looked between the two jedi before turning to Threepio. "We'll be right there Threepio," she said. When Threepio left Padme turned back to the two jedi. "Apparently you two know more than I do and if isn't jedi business, then I expect for you to tell me soon," she told them sternly. "Now I'm going to get changed. Anakin, you can help Obi-Wan get settled," she turned and went into her bedroom leaving the two jedi alone.

As she left Anakin turned to Obi-Wan. "I know that I should tell her and what Vader could do to her is foremost on my mind, but I don't want her worrying over me any more than she already does," he said.

"You can't keep this from her Anakin. She needs to know," Obi-Wan told him.

"And I will, just not now, not tonight. I need some time to sort this out myself," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Alright, have it your way. You have one week to sort through this Anakin and then to tell your wife. But if you do anything foolish, I reserve the right to tell her if I feel that it was important that she know at that time," he said.

Anakin nodded, he knew there was no arguing with Obi-Wan on this. "I'll show you where you'll be sleeping," he said and led Obi-Wan in the opposite direction as where Padme had gone. This part of the apartment was meant for the handmaidens, but Padme had dismissed her handmaidens, all but Dorme so there was a room for Obi-Wan.

"I hope this is to your liking," Anakin said noting some of the feminine holos on the walls.

"Oh yes, I particularly like the holo of the baby in a flower pot. Whoever decided that _that_ was art must have been mad," Obi-Wan said sarcastically.

Anakin grinned. "Well, who can ever tell with some females," he said.

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"Are you going to tell me what it is you're hiding?" Padme asked Anakin as they got ready for bed. She stood at the window brushing her hair for the night.

"Can we just forget about that for now?" Anakin asked wrapping his arms around her from behind. He then began to nibble on her secret spot on her neck right to the back and below her right ear.

"Anakin, we can't, not with Obi-Wan here," Padme protested, but Anakin knew that it was only half heartidly.

"I don't care. I just got back from Tatooine today and I spent close to a month there. Too long for us to be apart," he told her. He proceeded in his work on her spot. He could feel her weakening.

"Anakin," she said trying to be stern but failing miserably.

"Yes?" he asked letting his breath tingle on her neck.

Padme had given in, and she knew that he had won. He always did. "Take me to bed," she said breathlessly.

"As you wish Milady," he said guiding her to the bed.

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Anakin lay on his back in bed fully awake. He thought hard about his new situation. He had been up for hours doing nothing but thinking about it. His mind had come to a conclusion. He could keep Vader bottled up inside. He had to. He was the chosen one, he had the strength to do so. But now his train of thought went back to how he was going to get Darth Sidious. Palpatine seemed to trust him. Anakin wasn't sure if it was an act or not. But either way he had to use it to his advantage. If he was going to prove to everyone that Palpatine was a sith lord, he needed evidence. It was risky, but he had to do it. No one else could do it. He knew exactly what he was going to do now. He just hoped that he wouldn't raise Sidious' suspicions as he did it.


	22. A Step Forward, Not Backwards

A/N: Well I've reached my goal for the week. two chapters in one week, yay! I'll try another this week. I'm leaving for Green Bay WI on Sunday to spend a month my the old man and younger sibs so I probably wont update as often as I do. While up there, I'll be missing my sandy beaches and the summer storms, but I miss my dad and sibs even more. So don't get mad at me for not updating as often if I don't.

I hope this chapter is enjoyable.

Charlie

* * *

Anakin reached the temple before dawn broke over Coruscant. He knew exactly where he was going. He was going to the special operations ward. For what he was going to do, he needed equipment. He jogged up five flights of stairs before he reached the special operations ward. He slid the door open and found an array of disguises and equipment. A blond female jedi came into his view and he recognized her as Teia Luariin. She was old enough to be his mother that much Anakin knew.

"Teia Luariin," Anakin said bowing when Tea sensed his presence and looked at him.

"Knight Skywalker. What brings you here?" Teia asked raising a perfectly thin arched eyebrow.

"I need some spy equipment," Anakin told her.

"Did the council assign you and Master Kenobi on a mission?" Teia asked.

"No. What I need is for a more personal mission," Anakin told her vaguely.

"Does the council know about this?" Teia asked.

"Master Yoda is aware of my plans," Anakin said.

"Well I'll have to speak to him about this," Teia said.

"You may, but I'm rather short on time here. Could you show me what you've got?" Anakin said.

Teia regarded him for a moment before nodding. Alright, how much will you be requiring?" she asked.

Anakin grinned. "Well there is his office and then his apartment. But I must ask, do you have anything that can copy files among other things?" he said.

"I'll see what I have," Teia told him.

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Obi-Wan was rarely an early riser, but for now he made sure that he woke up at a decant hour. He needed to be well aware for Anakin's safety. After getting up he had walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of caf. He sat nursing it when Padme walked in still wearing her dressing gown and poured herself a cup of caf.

"I had expected Anakin to come in here with you or is he still working on his morning routine," Obi-Wan said. It was an odd situation that he found himself in. Never in his wildest dreams would he be drinking caf with Anakin's wife. The fact that he even had a wife was strange.

"Anakin's not working on his morning routine," Padme told him sitting down.

"Oh, he's still asleep? That's unlike him," Obi-Wan said.

Padme shook her head. "Anakin's not asleep. He's not even here," she told him.

"What? Where did he go?" Obi-Wan asked surprised. He was supposed to be watching Anakin and he _knew_ that!

"I presume that he went to the temple like he always does," Padme said sitting down with her cup of caf.

"Does he always leave before dawn?" Obi-Wan asked her.

"Not always," Padme told him.

Obi-Wan felt completely out of place here in Senator Amidala's apartment without Anakin here with him, especially when said senator was wearing her nightgown and dressing robe sitting across from him drinking Caf as though this was normal for the jedi. Oh where was Anakin? Obi-Wan hoped that he wasn't doing anything rash.

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It had taken Anakin some time to get the equipment that he would need. He also made sure that he was wired underneath his tunic in case he ran into Palpatine. It was still early morning so Anakin had decided to hit the chancellor's office first. He knew the security code clearance as did other people such as Palpatine's assistants and cleaning staff. Anakin knew that he had one hour before Palpatine would be coming in. He checked around the office and found a few of the art along the walls. In one depicting the battle of Naboo, Anakin placed a bug behind it. He would set up the transmission to falsely go to a building in Coco town, to keep the bug from being tracked to him. He placed four more bugs around the room deciding that each bug he placed would have a different signal. When he was done he quietly left the office choosing to go the same way he had come, through the cleaning staff's hallways and entrances. He made sure that his cloak covered his identity least anyone would look at the security holos. Once he was outside in the ally, he jumped back into his swoop bike and left the senatorial area of Coruscant. He would pay Dex a visit for something to eat.

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Obi-Wan put away his comlink and looked up as Senator Amidala came out of her bedroom dressed for the senate. "I can't get Anakin on his comlink. He has it shut off for some reason," he told her.

"I'm sure it's nothing. He's probably busy at the moment," Padme told him as Dorme draped her cloak around her shoulders. Captain Typho stood at the door waiting to escort Padme to the Senate offices.

"No, he's up to something incredibly rash. I need to find him. After what happened and what we know now, he's not thinking clearly at the moment," Obi-Wan said and threw his cloak on.

"What is going on? I can tell it's serious, Obi-Wan. I think that you need to tell me. What is wrong with my husband?" Padme said.

"I can't tell you right now, Padme. I just need to find Anakin fast," Obi-Wan said leaving the apartment.

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Senator Bail Organa was mildly surprised when Senator Amidala suddenly turned against the Chancellor when she was trying to convince herself that he had just turned in the wrong direction. She had tried to convince herself of the fact that the Chancellor was doing as good as he could and would hear her out as he was her old mentor. But now, she was determined that he was corrupt. Bail wasn't sure what to make of it. But he was glad to have her finally see that Chancellor Palpatine had no good plans fro the Republic. But for now, he and the other key members of the Delegation of 2000 sat in their weekly meeting.

"The senate cannot continue to give the chancellor more emergency powers. The Republic cannot afford it," Senator Giddean Danu from Kuat said.

"I agree, The more power that Chancellor Palpatine has, the closer we become to turning into a dictatorship. Soon he'll be making all the decisions and the senate will have no power," Senator Nee Alavar from Lorrd said.

"But how can we stop him from gaining more power. The longer this war continues, the harder it will be," Senator Chi Eekway from Wroona said.

"With the war, people want less debating over the proper course of action and more action. It doesn't matter how they get it. This war is slowly destroying the Republic," Senator Bana Breemus from Humbarine said.

"That is exactly what the separatist wants. They want us to be weakened. And the republic cannot see that we are already weakening from the inside. If we can no longer decide on the course of action peacefully together instead of letting the chancellor make all the decisions for us then the Republic as we know will no longer exist," Bail said and turned to Senator Amidala who hasn't said a word. "What do you think Senator Amidala?"

Padme looked up at Bail. "I think that maybe we should try to collaborate with the jedi. I know two that can help us," she said.

"How can the jedi help us?" Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila asked.

"Their words have an impact on the Republic. They could get others to listen to them. Let me invite two of them to our next meeting, we'll have it at my apartment," Padme told them.

Bail looked at her for a moment. There was defenantly something she wasn't telling them at the moment and he felt that it involved the jedi and their cause. "Alright, I think it's a worthwhile idea. We'll meet at Senator Amidala's next week. We'll speak to these jedi that you are friends with Senator," he said.

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Anakin spent the morning roaming around Coco Town waiting for the moment when he was be able to do the next phase in his plane. Now he stood inside the turbo lift and cracked the security code clearance to Chancellor Palpatine's apartment. He smirked to himself at his code. So unlike a sith lord. Finally the turbo lift stopped and the doors opened up. Palpatine needed a new décor. Black and red was too obvious for a sith lord. Anakin had never been inside this apartment and now he knew why. He could feel the darkness inside here. It beckoned to him, swam around him. He ignored it as best as he could. Taking a deep calming breath, he called on the light side of the force to clear his mind and slowly he felt the darkness move away from him. He began placing his bugs in every room of the apartment knowing that they were all now untraceable to him. Palpatine would never know that he had placed them inside here. After placing the bugs in places that no one would ever find them, even if the apartment was swept for bugs, they will never find them. He had personally modified the bugs to not appear as bugs. As he placed the last bug in place in Palpatine's home office, he found something on the wall. A hidden compartment. Using the force to open it up, he found several data chips and data projectors. Grabbing the first data projector, he pressed a button and cold dread filled his stomach. It was the plans for the death star. He quickly pulled out his data projector and copied the plans. He made quick work of copying everything that was hidden in here. Finally as he finished the last one, he felt a presence on the turbo lift. Anakin quickly finished and put everything back into their proper place, resealing the hidden compartment. He shut off all the lights and sat down in a chair in the living room making himself blend into the shadows that the darkened apartment. He saw Palpatine walk into the apartment and stop suddenly.

"I hope you don't mind, but I let myself in," Anakin said from the shadows.

"Oh, Anakin. You gave me a scare for a moment Son," Palpatine said in his kindly old man voice. Anakin cringed inside. "What brings you here in the middle of the day?" Palpatine asked him as he turned on the lights.

"I needed some place to escape. I finally managed to get away from Obi-Wan," Anakin told him.

Palpatine looked at Anakin with a mask of worry. "Why? Is something the matter?" he asked.

Anakin stood up and started pacing. "Everything is the matter! The council doesn't trust me. And now! They want me to believe that I'm ill. They sent me to see a psychiatrist. They have the nerve to tell me that I have a split personality! They have the nerve to tell me that I have a sith lord living inside of me!" he spit out the last sentence. "And now, they have Obi-Wan tailing me everywhere I go, to make sure that I stay a good little jedi!" as he said this he purposely used the force to smash a crystal ball displayed in the room. Anakin looked at Palpatine trying to figure out his reaction but Palpatine kept his mask on. Anakin _did_ catch the momentary gleam in the sith lord's eyes before it was gone.

"I don't know what to tell you Anakin. I don't believe there is anything wrong with you. You know that they could be lying to you. They fear your abilities. They know that you are more powerful than they are. They are trying to control you. Don't let them Anakin. You are better than they are," Palpatine told him.

Anakin looked out the window into the city of Coruscant. He could feel the darkness trying to lure him in. He had to get out of here. It was coming in so hard that he feared that he would suffocate in it. "I need to go. I can't keep Obi-Wan wondering where I am. I can't afford anymore suspicion," he said and hurried out of the apartment before Palpatine could say another word. As the turbo lift reached a few floors below Palpatine's apartment he breathed a sigh of relief. He was out of there. No matter what, he never wanted to go back into that apartment.

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Obi-Wan had tried to track Anakin for hours with no luck. And now he had returned to the temple searching in all the possible places that Anakin could be. The first place he checked with the room of a thousand fountains knowing how much Anakin loved fountains. If Anakin was searching for moments of peace he would go there. But he wasn't in the room of a thousand fountains, nor was he anywhere in the temple. Dejectedly, Obi-Wan went up to the high council chambers for the councils meeting. He barely paid attention to the meeting as his mind was full of worry for Anakin. The council meeting was interrupted halfway through the meeting when the doors slid open. Obi-Wan breathed a sigh of relief when Anakin walked through.

"Skywalker, what is the meaning of interrupting this meeting?" Master Windu demanded.

Anakin bowed. "I'm sorry masters but I have something of importance to discuss with you. If you would be kind enough to join me in the main briefing room. I feel that you would want to see what I've found," he said.

Master Yoda regarded Anakin for a moment before nodding. "Join young Skywalker we will," he said.

"Thank you Master," Anakin said and left.

Not long after, the high council joined Anakin in the main briefing room where Anakin fed a datachip into the main projector. "I found this among other things inside of Chancellor Palpatine's apartment today," Anakin said as the plans for the death star came up.

"What were you doing in Chancellor Palpatine's apartment?" Obi-Wan asked alarmed.

"Planting bugs," Anakin answered simply without looking up.

"Skywalker, what gave you the right to plant bugs in the chancellor's apartment?" Master Windu demanded.

Anakin looked up and met the councils eyes. "I found out that Chancellor Palpatine is the sith lord we have been looking for since the battle of Naboo. I'm looking to get as much proof that I can before he is destroyed without the Republic turning on the jedi," Anakin explained himself. He waited until the council quieted down after his statement.

"Continue Young Skywalker," Master Yoda ordered.

"Yes Master," Anakin said and pointed to the plans of the death star. "This is Palpatine's ultimate weapon. It has enough firepower in it to destroy a whole planet," he let that sink into the council for a moment as they yelled in outrage. "Yeah, my sentiments exactly," he said. He then went on to explain the mechanics and the inner workings of the death star.

With each word Anakin spoke, Obi-Wan's sinking feeling of dread got deeper. Oh they were in a pickle now. Was the chancellor already building this death machine? Finally Anakin had finished explaining everything he knew about this death star. Some jedi masters had a look of confusion on their faces as they tried to comprehend everything Anakin had said. Obi-Wan shook his head. Anakin wasn't really good at keeping things simple or speaking in clear forms when he was talking mechanics. But Obi-Wan guessed that was the price you paid for being a genius. Obi-Wan wouldn't dare tell Anakin that he was the smartest jedi he knew just below Master Yoda, least he inflate Anakin's ego any more than it already was. The jedi masters didn't have time to ask questions as Anakin showed them more of what he had found. Obviously Anakin had been _really_ busy today.

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After four hours of going over everything that Anakin had found, the council had decided on a plan of action for what they had learned. The rest of the council left leaving Obi-Wan to walk up to where Anakin was gathering his data disc that he had refused to give the council telling them that he had made copies. Anakin wanted the original evidence to study himself.

"You had me worried today Anakin," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin looked up at him then. "Sorry. I just didn't have time to explain what I was doing. Besides you would have tried to talk me out of it," he said.

"You're right. I would have tried to talk you out of it. What if the chancellor finds out what you are doing Anakin. You'll be putting yourself in danger. Did you even think about the fact that he could find the bugs, not to mention the fact that you made copies of all of his plans?" Obi-Wan said.

Anakin smirked. "Actually I did. I've made the bugs impossible to be found by bug sweeps. And if they were found, there is no way that they could be traced to me. Each one is traced to old warehouses all over Coruscant. It'll be like a maze that even droids would short circuit trying to get through to find a connection and source," he said smugly.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at that. "well, you _have_ been busy," he said surprised. "I'll never understand how you know how to do such things," he said shaking his head.

"Enough talk about the chancellor and my plans. I'm up for a duel, care to join me?" Anakin said raising an eyebrow in challenge.

"Are you sure you don't want to challenge Master Windu?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I've thought about it. But challenging you is more fun," Anakin said grinning.

Obi-Wan smiled. _This_ was the Anakin Skywalker that he knew and loved. This was his brother. "I'm up for your challenge. What are the stakes _this_ time?" he said

"If I win, you have to kiss Siri Tachi and profess your love for her," Anakin said grinning.

"No way, Anakin!" Obi-Wan snapped. "Think of something else," he told him sternly.

"Why wouldn't you? I know that there something between you two, I can sense it," Anakin asked him.

"That was a long time ago," Obi-Wan said strictly.

"What are you afraid of Obi-Wan? The council?" Anakin asked.

"Jedi have no fear. Fear leads to the dark side," Obi-Wan said automatically.

"Fear is natural. It's when you let it rule over your actions that it leads to the dark side," Anakin told him.

"I'm not sure that the council would agree with your views on the code and everything else that I've taught you," Obi-Wan told him.

"The council is not always right," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan sighed. He wasn't going to win this argument with Anakin. Trouble was, that he somehow agreed with him. He would never voice it through. "Lets try this again, what are the stakes this time for our duel?" he asked.

Anakin rubbed his chin with his right gloved hand in thought. "You have to sing 'I'm a little teapot' in the middle of lunch in the cafeteria," he finally said.

"I'm not doing that either," Obi-Wan said crossing his arms in defiance.

"You can be my little pet,"

"No,"

"Why not?"

"You'll have me do something stupid,"

"But it's fun,"

"Think of something else," Obi-Wan told him.

"Fine, I want twenty credits," Anakin said giving in.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "That's it?" he asked.

"That and you're coming with me to the Zhora Room," Anakin said.

"Fine. Now if I win I want you to put up a sound barrier around your bedroom at night," Obi-Wan told him.

"That's it? That's weak old man!" Anakin said raising an eyebrow.

"That and you can sing 'I'm a little teapot' for the rest of the jedi during lunch tomorrow," Obi-Wan said triumphantly.

Anakin grinned. "Deal!" he said shaking Obi-Wan's hand.

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Anakin moved to strike at Obi-Wan only to be expertly blocked. He then tried another approach. Swinging his lightsaber in his hand he circled Obi-Wan. He chose to hold off until the opportune moment. Obi-Wan watched him carefully gripping his lightsaber firmly in his hand. Finally Anakin saw an opening and struck from behind Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan raised his lightsaber above his head and blocked Anakin's striking move.

"You're thinking too much. Clear your mind, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him.

"How's this?" Anakin asked using the force to push Obi-Wan against a wall where his lightsaber fell out of his hand and clattered across the room away from him. Anakin then flipped in somersault and before he landed he brought down his lightsaber moving to strike Obi-wan who pulled his lightsaber back into his hands blocking Anakin just in time.

"That's more like it!" Obi-Wan said getting up.

Neither jedi noticed when Master Yoda and Master Windu entered the room to watch the duel. Instead they continued their duel. Anakin and Obi-Wan circled each other. Obi-Wan waited on guard knowing that patience would help him win this duel. Anakin twirled his lightsaber in his hand as he circled Obi-Wan. Suddenly Anakin struck and Obi-Wan blocked. They moved in a circle striking and blocking, their lightsaber becoming a blur. Finally Anakin knocked Obi-Wan's lightsaber out of his hand and it went flying across the room. Anakin moved to strike but Obi-Wan stooped down, stuck out his leg, swung it and knocked Anakin down onto his back. Obi-Wan called his lightsaber back into his hand just as Anakin flipped off of his back to block Obi-Wan's striking move. The duel lasted for a few hours until finally Obi-Wan disarmed Anakin and caught his lightsaber, making sure to grab his other one as Anakin hit the floor in a sideways flip on his stomach.

"You still have much to learn, Anakin," Obi-Wan said triumphantly as Anakin pulled himself up.

"You cheated," Anakin accused.

"Jedi don't cheat," Obi-Wan said strictly and handed Anakin his lightsabers.

"Well... I guess you're right. Alright you win, this time," Anakin said grudgingly.

Obi-Wan smirked. "I look forward to your rendition of 'I'm a little teapot', Anakin," he said.

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_Anakin ran through the smoke filled temple every once and a while stopping at the fallen jedi only to find that they were already dead. He had to move quickly if he were to save them! All around him he could hear the firing of blasters as the clones took down the jedi. With the jedi spread so far apart, they were powerless to stop this threat to their home. He shuddered as he felt more lives being torn apart. Why couldn't he stop it? There was still time. He had to get to the younglings! More smoke filled his vision and he stopped just as a piece of the ceiling came down in front of him in flames. That way was now out. Frantically he looked around for another way. He found it. He had used this secret pathway all too many times before. He quietly slipped through the passage. He ignited his lightsaber using the blade to light his way through the dark tunnel. He had to hurry. He had to save them! The pathway grew narrower the higher he climbed, but he pressed on. Just a few more steps and he'd be out of the passage. He manged to get out unnoticed and quickly ran to the turbo lift. As soon as the doors opened, he jumped in, he pressed the code clearance in for the high council chambers. He only hoped that he wasn't too late. Finally the doors to the lift opened and he stepped into the seemingly empty council chambers. They were here and they were hiding. Finally one, a boy with blond hair reminding Anakin a lot of himself when he was that age, came out from his hiding place._

_Master Skywalker, there's so many of them, what should we do?" the boy asked fearfully._

_Anakin pulled the boy close to him. "It's okay, I wont let them harm you," he reassured the child. He would protect these children with his life. The monster will not harm them. Anakin sensed him coming closer. He knew where they were. The child could sense it too as he clung to him. Anakin rubbed the child's arm in assurance. The monster will not harm them! Finally he bent down to the child. "Go back to your hiding place and don't move or make a sound, okay," he told the child who nodded fearfully at Anakin before going back to his hiding place._

_Anakin waited in front of those doors. He was coming closer. He was going to kill them! No! Anakin wont let him! Anakin wont let him hurt them. He'll stop the monster from hurting these children! Finally the doors opened reveling the black cloaked figure of the new sith lord. Anakin gripped his lightsaber firmly in his hand and the sith lord scrutinized him from under his hood. The sith gripping his own lightsaber, a blood red one. The mark of a sith. Finally slowly, the sith looked Anakin straight in the eyes smirking at him. Anakin found himself staring into his own face. But it wasn't his. This face had sith yellow eyes!_

_No! he destroyed him once before, he'll destroy him once again! Somehow he had to get him away from the younglings. Coming to a decision, he moved into position gripping his lightsaber in his hands firmly. "You will not harm them, Vader. You'll have to get through me before you touch them," he said determinedly._

_Vader laughed evilly. "Fool. You cannot stop me. It's pointless to fight me. You cannot fight your destiny!"_

"_I choose my own destiny and mine is not yours!" Anakin said._

"_You're a fool. You have no idea of the power the dark side has to offer!" Vader said and effortlessly force pushed Anakin across the chamber, his lightsaber flying out of his hands and clattering across the chamber. Vader took quick strides towards him before he spied the boy. The same one who clung to Anakin moments before. Vader smirked at him as he pulled the boy out of his hiding place by his collar. The boy put up a good fight, but Vader was stronger and he brought his blade up to the boy._

"_No!!!!!!!" Anakin screamed. _

_Vader struck his lightsaber through the boy making him scream before dropping the dying child onto the floor. Anakin called his lightsaber in his hand and charged at Vader moving to strike him down but Vader blacked him. _

"_Yes, use your anger, it makes you stronger. You hate me, use it to strike me down, only your hatred and anger can defeat me!" Vader goaded. _

"_Never!" Anakin said._

Anakin jolted up in bed and took a deep calming breath. He pulled the covers off of himself and leaned over the side of the bed placing his head in his hands. He had to stop this dream from continuing. He needed to find something soothing. Making up his mind he began getting dressed. Before leaving he quickly scribble out a note telling Padme and Obi-Wan that he would be at the temple.

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For the first time the room of a thousand fountains wouldn't calm him so Anakin wandered around the temple until he passed the crèche. Stopping, he turned to the crèche and walked in. He had never once taken the time to come in here, but today was different. An older red haired female jedi was working the crèche and she paused when she sensed him. She turned around and did a double take.

"Anakin Skywalker. What can I do for you?" she asked surprised.

Anakin bowed to her. "Would you like some help?" he asked her.

"You want to help tend to the younglings?" she asked skeptically.

"If you do not mind," Anakin told her.

She regarded him for a moment before nodding. "Alright," she said.

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Obi-Wan once again found that Anakin had left before dawn. Sighing he made himself a cup of caf and dimly noted the piece of flimsy sitting on the table. He picked it up and breathed a sigh of relief. Anakin was at the temple. He knew that he was going to join him. He could sense that something was bothering Anakin deeply and knew that Anakin needed him today. After seeing Padme off , he traveled to the temple via public transport. He thought he knew where to find Anakin and went straight to the room of a thousand fountains. But Anakin wasn't there. Sighing, Obi-Wan stretched out his senses into the force and found Anakin's presence on the sixth level. Obi-Wan left the room of a thousand fountains and walked up to the fifth level. He paused in surprise when he felt Anakin's force signature in the crèche. What was Anakin doing in the crèche? Knowing that Something heavy was bothering Anakin, he stepped into the crèche. Donna Mortee, the jedi who was in charge of the crèche paused when she saw him enter. She walked up to Obi-Wan.

"He's been in here for hours," she told him knowing why Obi-Wan was here.

"Could you give us a moment?" Obi-Wan asked her.

"I have to go get their food, I'll be back soon," Donna told him exiting the crèche.

Obi-Wan walked over to the far end where Anakin stood by the window cradling a five month old youngling.

"I don't understand how anyone could ever hurt someone so innocent," Anakin said sensing Obi-Wan's presence.

"You seemed fine yesterday, Anakin. What happened?" Obi-Wan asked.

"What if it's inevitable, Master?" Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan nodded in understanding. "Anakin. You're stronger than this. I believe that you can keep Vader locked up. Now that we have this heads up, we can stop it. I believe that is the reason for Qui-Gon's interference. To help you. I think he knew all along and the first time around we had no idea of what was happening. Now we do. That my friend is a step in the right direction, not a step backwards," he said.

"Then why do I keep dreaming about it? My dreams always come true," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan sighed. "The future is always in motion, Anakin. Your dreams are just one outcome of many," he told him.

Anakin shook his head. "It can't be that simple," he said.

"Do you want to talk about these dreams?" Obi-Wan asked.

"No," Anakin told him.

"Very well. Will you talk about them with Minga?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I don't know," Anakin said.

"Sometimes it's better to talk about these things instead of keeping them bottled up inside. Don't keep things to yourself Anakin. It's not good for you," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin nodded. He knew that Obi-Wan was right. He just couldn't bring himself to talk about everything just yet.


	23. You've Changed

A/N: Wow! You guys are being spoiled this week! Three chapters in one week. Gee, what is getting into me?

I wrote this chapter while listening to Marilyn Manson's 'If I was your Vampire' The song fits in with this chapter very well. When I started this chapter I had no idea where I was going with it, but I'm satisfied with how it turned out and how it fits into the story. I hope you enjoy it.

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Anakin collapsed on top of Padme and slowly kissed her before rolling onto his back staring up at the ceiling. His mind was defenantly somewhere else tonight other than where he was. Padme curled up to him and caressed his jaw. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's nothing," he told her sighing.

"Tell me," Padme urged.

"It's just weird dreams, that's all," Anakin told her.

"Do you want to talk about them?" Padme asked.

"It's nothing, they don't mean anything, that's all," Anakin said firmly.

Padme knew that she wasn't going to get anything out of him this way. She knew that there was something important that he wasn't telling her and she meant to get it out of him some way or another. Knowing that she wasn't going to get it out tonight, she decided on a new subject. "I think that you need help with stopping the chancellor if he is the sith lord you are looking for. You need the help of the senate so that the Republic doesn't turn on the jedi. I've been talking to a group of trusted senators and we're working on a plan to keep the chancellor from gaining emergency powers. With my impute on your side, the chancellor could loose all the power he has over the senate," she said.

Anakin turned to her sharply. "No! You're not doing anything Padme," he told her strictly.

"I'm helping you Anakin," Padme told him stubbornly.

"You're putting yourself in danger. If the chancellor knew what you are doing, there's not telling what he could do to you. I cannot allow that to happen. In fact I forbid you to do anything about this!" Anakin told her strictly pointing his finger at her.

Padme sat up, "You forbid me?" she said incredulously.

"Yes. I'm your husband, you have to do what I say," Anakin said crossing his arms.

"It doesn't work that way, Anakin. You can't give me orders like this. You don't have the right. I will do as I please. And I'm helping you," Padme told him strictly.

"Like hell you are!" Anakin yelled.

"You need my help, Anakin. You cannot just kill the chancellor and claim that he was a sith lord then expect for the Republic to accept that. The senate wouldn't tolerate it!" Padme told him.

Anakin mulled over that. She was right. And he knew that there was no way that he could stop her. Padme was just as headstrong as he was. "What exactly do you want me to do?" he asked her.

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"You're in an irritable mood today," Obi-Wan commented as Anakin made them something to eat. He could feel the irritation radiating off of Anakin in waves. "Want to talk about it?" he asked.

"Padme is putting together a campaign along with fellow senators to take Chancellor Palpatine's power away from him in the senate," Anakin told him. As he said this he stabbed at the meat he was cutting.

"And that irritates you? Anakin, You were trying to figure out how you could stop him without the senate turning on the jedi. This a new step in stopping a sith lord," Obi-Wan reasoned with him.

"Yes, but Padme could be putting her life in danger if she does this and the chancellor finds out," Anakin told him.

"Oh, I see. It's okay for you to put your life in danger stopping this sith lord but it's not okay for her when all she's trying to do is help," Obi-Wan said in understanding.

"Exactly!" Anakin said happy that Obi-Wan was seeing his point. And then he thought about what Obi-Wan said. "Well, when you say it like that... okay I see your point," he said.

Obi-Wan nodded in satisfaction. He knew that Anakin would see reason once it was pointed out to him. "What's her plan?" he asked.

"She wants us to speak to her fellow senators in the delegation of 2000 this week.," Anakin told him. "I don't know much else," he added.

"Perhaps we'll find out during the meeting, when is it?"Obi-Wan asked.

"In two days," Anakin told him as he fried the meat and fixed a few nuna eggs. After he was done he put the food on two plates and set them down on the table. "I don't like her doing this. She's making herself a target. Sidious wont hesitate to kill her. Me on the other hand, he wants me on his side, I'm in less danger," he explained his point.

"Well, if Sidious found out about your betrayal before it's time, he wouldn't hesitate to kill you either," Obi-Wan pointed out.

"If I die, I'm taking him with me," Anakin said determinedly.

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Padme finally got home ahead of Anakin for the time being. She knew that Anakin was at the temple doing some sort of intensive training with Obi-Wan and Master Yoda as he was doing every day now. She dismissed her handmaidens and Captain Typho who decided to stand outside the turbo lift. Padme threw her cloak off and laid it down over the couch, a habit she had adopted from Anakin, and went straight over to the comm station where she commed her sister. Instantly she heard the sound of giggles in the distance as she looked around Sola's kitchen.

"Sola?" Padme called.

"Girls quiet down!" Sola's voice called before she appeared before the comm on the other end. "Padme, what brings you to comm me this time?" she asked smiling.

"Could it be just because I missed you," Padme said laughing.

Sola laughed. "What's going on?" she asked.

Padme smiled faintly. "I honestly don't know," she said.

"Well that's a first, Padme Amidala doesn't know what is going on around her!" Sola said laughing. She then noticed Padme's troubled face and stopped laughing. "This is serious?" she asked.

Padme opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She closed her mouth and tried again. "Something is deeply troubling Anakin and he wont tell me what it is. I know that whatever it is, it's going to effect all of us. What's worse is that Obi-Wan isn't telling me what it is either and Obi Wan is always straight with me, just as Qui-Gon Jinn was during the battle of Naboo," she told her.

"I can see that this is troubling you, Padme. Have you tried to entice it out of Anakin?" Sola asked.

"Last night, but it was like he wasn't even there mentally," Padme told her.

"Okay, lets see if we can figure it out. I know that it can't be that he feels guilty because he has another woman on the side like it usually is when men aren't that interested in sex with their wives..." Sola trailed off tapping her chin.

"Thanks a lot Sola! I haven't even thought about that!" Padme snapped.

"What, Padme I didn't mean it that way! Any fool would know that Anakin only has eyes for you just by looking at him when you two are in the same room! His eyes never really leave you," Sola quickly covered herself up.

"I don't even know why I even came to _you_ in the first place," Padme said crossing her arms.

"What does he tell you that it's about?" Sola asked.

"He says that it's just strange dreams and that it doesn't mean anything. But I don't believe him. I know when he's lying and he knows that!" Padme said.

"How long has this been going on?" Sola asked.

Padme bit her lip. She knew that something profound had happened to Anakin on his last mission. He was different. Harder to read even. He had even turned on a very old friend and mentor on a slight lead. He never explained his reasons for believing Chancellor Palpatine was a sith lord. Padme met Sola's eyes and she knew that whatever the problem was, Sola couldn't help her. "He's changed, Sola. Something happened to him. I don't know what to make of this," she confessed.

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Jedi Master Mace Windu had started watching Anakin Skywalker a lot more now that the council knew that he had a sith lord living inside of him. For the most part, Skywalker hadn't changed much after learning it himself. He just seemed to be ignoring this troubling fact. Skywalker remained as he always was. But Mace was no fool. Since Skywalker and Kenobi had returned from searching for General Grievous, Mace had noticed the subtable change in Skywalker's force signature. He knew that something wasn't right and whatever it was had nothing to do with Darth Vader. Troubling was Skywalker's declaration of Chancellor Palpatine's identity as Darth Sidious. How the boy knew this was a mystery. He never explained himself. But Mace knew that Obi-Wan Kenobi knew and so did Master Yoda. Master Yoda was convinced that Skywalker had seen what was to come and was talking about changing a few things here and there. Mace never questioned Master Yoda. But he knew that whatever Skywalker had seen, it was bad. He had walked in to Master Yoda's meditation chamber to discuss a tremor in the force onto to find both Master Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in there talking with Master Yoda only to hush up at his appearance. Skywalker had glanced at him and Mace could feel guilt radiating off of him. Mace knew that whatever Skywalker had seen, this Darth Vader was a part of it.

Mace was brought out of his musings as Skywalker was thrown against the wall of the holographic training room knocking out the holograph that was placed in. Skywalker groaned and stood up. "Again!" he shouted.

"Anakin, you're pushing yourself too much! If you continue this way, you'll push yourself to the breaking point!" Obi-Wan Kenobi shouted.

"I don't care!" Skywalker shouted.

Obi-Wan marched up to Anakin and said something that Mace couldn't hear, but whatever it was, it made Skywalker's face harden. Skywalker paced and muttered angrily which made Mace worry for a moment. For close to a week Skywalker had been pushing himself to the limit and Mace could tell that it would do nobody any good if he continued on like this.

Mace stood up from his position at the observation deck and marched down the stairs. "Skywalker!" he said.

Skywalker tensed and turned to face him. "Yes Master?" he asked.

"You need to work out your frustrations. I will help you. Where is your lightsaber?" Mace said and threw off his cloak.

"You're in for it now, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "Whatever you do, don't do anything stupid," he warned.

Skywalker didn't look at him. "I'll be fine, Obi-Wan," he said igniting his single bladed lightsaber just as Mace ignited his. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time," he added.

At that Mace raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then don't disappoint me," he said.

He waited knowing that Skywalker would make the first move, which he did aiming for Mace's arm but Mace deflected his blow and matched each of his blows until he aimed for Skywalker's legs. Skywalker just jumped over Mace's purple blade. Skywalker then attempted to force push him, but Mace just rolled out of the way avoiding the push of the force. Skywalker twirled his lightsaber in his hand circling Mace like a nexu and it's prey. Mace's face hardened and he charged at Skywalker knocking his lightsaber out of his hands on onto his back. Mace held his lightsaber at Skywalker's throat.

"You disappointed me, Skywalker. That was too easy," Mace said.

"I'm not done yet, Master," Skywalker said kicking Mace knocking him onto his back. Skywalker flipped from his back and onto his feet summoning his lightsaber.

Mace and Skywalker continued their duel and Mace had a grudgingly respect for Skywalker's skill. It was apparent that Skywalker worked hard on his technique and that work paid off. About two hours later, Mace disarmed Skywalker again, but this time Skywalker surprised him by pulling out another lightsaber, a double bladed one at that. After that things got really interesting and Mace was given a run for his money. He wasn't used to sparring with a fellow jedi who had a duel bladed lightsaber. Finally another two hours later, neither opponent was winning and they were forced to call it a truce on the account that it was now time for the evening meal.

"I'm impressed," Mace said deactivating his lightsaber. "You are skilled Skywalker. It would be a terrible blow to the jedi if Darth Vader came out," he said as he put his cloak back on.

Skywalker seemed to pale at those words and Mace wondered if what he said had come a little too close to home. He dismissed it as a part of this mystery surrounding Skywalker and Mace knew that somehow he would piece it together eventually.

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At the end of the day, Anakin sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly took off his utility belt before pulling off his outer tunic and then his inner tunic. He threw them down at the edge of the bed and rubbed his face in his hands. He knew that Master Windu was beginning to suspect what the future held. His words earlier had cut him to the core. But it wouldn't be a blow to just the jedi if Vader would get out, it would be a blow to the entire galaxy. He knew that he had to stop it. But how could he stop a demon that was living inside of him waiting to come out? How do you fight yourself? It was easy in his dreams but that was only because in his dreams, he and Vader had two separate bodies.

"Don't tell me that you're exhausted already," Padme said.

Anakin looked up and his breath caught in his throat. She was standing in the doorway of her closet with her hands rested palms flat on the frames of the doorway. But that wasn't what made his breathing stop and then quicken up. She was wearing a barely there negligee. He hair hung loosely down her back in her natural curls, just the way he liked it. Time seemed to freeze as she cat-walked up to him before placing her hands on his shoulders. She rand her hands seductively down and up his arms as she straddled his lap. She brought her right forefinger tip against his jaw and traced it.

"I would be sorely disappointed if you had worked yourself to the brink of exhaustion today," she told him. She then began trailing kisses down along his jaw and neck going to his chest before going back up to his smiling mouth giving him a long and agonizing slow kiss. She knew exactly what she was doing to him and he briefly wondered what exactly had gotten into her lately. But who was he to complain like this? As she continued her long and agonizing slow kiss, he ran his hands along her back and over her rear before tangling them into her hair. Fisting his left hand in her hair just at the base of her neck he ended the kiss to begin nibbling on her neck.

"I don't know what has gotten into you lately, but I'm defenantly not complaining," he breathed against her neck.

He felt her hands playing with his growing hair. "You just seem stressed lately, let me help you ease away that stress," she told him. "Tell me what is bothering you," she purred.

"I told you that it was just some weird dreams that has me confused, that's all," he told her.

Padme pushed away from him and stood up. "You're lying!" she told him. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him.

Suddenly it downed on him what she was doing. No! He refused to give in, he wasn't going to tell her. He refused to see that look of horror cross her face directed at him. "I don't know what you're talking about," he told her, sticking with his story.

She whirled on him. "Stop it! I know when you're lying Anakin! Do not make the mistake that you think you can hide things from me!" she yelled at him. She turned away from him again and rubbed her arms. "I don't know what to make of you lately. You've changed," she told him.

Anakin froze at her words. _"I don't believe what I'm hearing . . . Obi-Wan was right. You've changed," Padme said backing away from him..."I don't know you anymore. Anakin, you're breaking my heart. I'll never stop loving you, but you are going down a path I can't follow," Padme told him backing away from him. She was repulsed. _No! Anakin jumped up from the bed and turned her to face him.

"I'm still the same man that you married Padme, I haven't changed that much. You have to believe me," he said.

Padme shook her head. "You don't talk to me anymore Anakin. I know that something is wrong. You're troubled and you wont tell me what it's about. I want to help you, but you're shutting me out. How do you think that makes me feel?" she said.

Anakin pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her. he kissed her forehead before resting his chin on her head. "I'm sorry Padme. All I want is to protect you. I can't bare to see how you would react if I told you what is happening. I love you, I don't want to cause you pain," he told her.

"Then stop. Tell me what is wrong," she told him.

"I...can't," Anakin told her.

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Minga regarded Anakin for a moment. He hasn't spoken since he had walked in and that was fifteen minutes ago. "Well, what happened since the last time we spoke?" she asked breaking the ice.

Anakin turned away from the window to face her. he knew that he should tell her everything. But he wasn't sure if she could handle it. He sighed. "Everything that I say stays between us, right? You don't report to the council?" he asked her.

"Master Yoda makes inquiries, but I don't talk to anyone else, why?" she asked.

Anakin nodded. "There's some things that I need to tell you, but I can't risk the council knowing about them," he told her.

"I wont tell the council Anakin, I promise. Now tell me, what is bothering you," she said.

"You're going to want to sit down," he told her.

"Oh dear, what did you do this time?" Minga asked sitting down.

"I'm married," Anakin told her.

Minga smacked her forehead with her hand. "Anakin! You _do_ realize that you broke the code and can be thrown out of the order!" she snapped.

"I love her, Minga. I can't live without her," Anakin told her.

"Anakin, Attachments are forbidden!" Minga told him. "Do you realize how dangerous this can be?! Remember what came about with your mother!"

Anakin knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his. "She keeps me grounded, Minga. Without Padme, Vader can take control. You know that I never agreed with the code where attachments are concerned. And you know that if I don't agree with it, then I don't abide by it," he told her.

Minga looked him in the eyes. He was sincere. She knew that Anakin was ruled by his heart. He wasn't like most jedi. She also knew that she couldn't tell anybody about this. Being a jedi meant a great deal to Anakin. It was who he was. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked him.

"Because Vader is effecting my marriage. I can't tell Padme about him and it's upsetting my wife. I need your advice," he told her.

"Anakin." Minga said and paused. What was she supposed to say to this? She was not experienced in this kind of thing. "Anakin, if she loves you, she would understand. Just as Obi-Wan and I do," she told him.

Anakin stood up and shook his head. "You don't understand," he told her.

"Then make me understand, Anakin. Tell me what Vader is going to do. What have you seen? You're not doing yourself any favors by keeping things from me. Let me help you, Anakin," Minga told him.

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window. "He kills all the jedi, no he slaughters them. Only Master Yoda and Obi-Wan survive, but they go into hiding. But that's not the worst part. He brings terror to the entire galaxy. Her tortures my daughter and mutilates my son! I've seen his memories. The look on all the jedi's faces and the slaughter of the younglings play over and over in my head. And in my dreams I see his face," he told her. He then turned to see her horror stricken face. "He's taunting me! I'm beginning to feel that his coming out is inevitable! How do I stop him? How can I even stop Sidious and stop Vader at the same time?! How do I destroy the sith with this demon inside of me?"

Minga stood up and walked over to him. She placed her arms around him in a tight embrace. "You're strong Anakin. You can get through this," she told him.

"If I was so strong then this wouldn't be happening," Anakin told her.

"Tell me about these dreams," Minga said letting him go.

Anakin shook his head. "They're not the normal ones. It's strange. The temple is under siege and I'm running through it stopping to check on each jedi that I find, only to be too late, they're already dead. I'm racing to get to the younglings before he does. I reach them before he does, and when he comes, I'm faced with my own face only he has sith yellow eyes and I know it's Vader. We fight, but as the dream goes further he kills one of the younglings while I'm powerless to stop him. And he taunts me with the dark side. That's as far as it has gotten so far," Anakin told her.

"So basically, you're battling Vader in your dreams. That's interesting," Minga told him.

"How is it interesting?! It's disturbing!" Anakin told her.

Minga nodded to herself for a moment. "I have an assignment for you. I want you to keep a dream journal. That way you can look at it and analyze your dreams. Trust me, it will help," she told him.

"I don't see how that can help," Anakin told her.

"It will help," Minga told him.

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Anakin and Obi-Wan stood in Padme's Apartment with their hands clasped behind their backs. They waited for the senators to give them an opening to speak. So far they were all debating amongst themselves on a course of action. "Do you know what you're going to tell them?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin nodded. "I'm thinking the truth, the senate needs to know what he is planning," he said.

"I don't think here is the place to tell them," Obi-Wan told him.

"I think that you are right. They need to work with us," Anakin said. Suddenly he got an idea. He walked away from the window and interrupted the senator's meeting. "I'm sorry for the interruption senators," he said.

Senator Organa turned to him and nodded at him. "You have an opinion?" he asked.

"Yes. I believe that the delegation of 2000 needs to work with the jedi. We have inside information that is vital that the delegation should know. I am formally requesting that the entire delegation meet at the jedi temple at midnight tonight and be discreet," Anakin said.

"What type of information is this?" a senator that Anakin didn't recognize asked.

"The chancellors secret plans for the galaxy and they're not good. I will explain everything when you meet me at midnight," Anakin told them.

Senator Organa regarded him for a moment and Anakin held his gaze before Senator Organa nodded. "Then we will meet you at midnight," he said.

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At midnight that night sixty three senators gathered at the jedi temple unknown to the rest of Coruscant. Anakin and Obi-Wan greeted the cloaked senators at the temple's entrance. Both jedi shared a look for a moment at seeing so many senators. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at Anakin. "Well, it looks like we'll make an impact yet," he said.

"Impressive. It seems that we might be able to sway the senate yet. Lets just hope that they don't think we're trying to take over," Anakin said.

Padme and Senator Organa were the first two senators to reach the two jedi. Anakin wanted to offer Padme his arm but he held back knowing that he couldn't show her an ounce of affection while around so many people. Instead he nodded under the hood of his cloak.

"If you would be so kind to follow us, we'll meet in the main briefing room," Obi-Wan said a he and Anakin turned to lead the senators through the temple. Once they reached the main briefing room, the entire high council was there waiting for them.

"Have a seat you will," Master Yoda said as the senators were ushered inside.

Anakin and Obi-Wan was the only ones who stayed standing up as they moved to the holoprojector. Anakin fed in a data disk and instantly the plans to the death star came up.

"Try to keep things simple this time, Anakin," Obi-wan said.

"I was clear and simple the last time I explained this," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'd hate to know what isn't clear and simple from you," he said.

They turned to the senators and Anakin began to speak. "This was found in Chancellor Palpatine's apartment. It is his ultimate weapon to keep the systems in line once he has formed his Empire. It's called the death star and he holds enough firepower to destroy an entire planet," he said.

"Impossible! Nothing can destroy a whole planet!" one senator spoke up.

"Impossible it is not!" Master Yoda proclaimed. The other senators all spoke their outrage and disbelief all at once.

Anakin caught Padme's eyes and nodded to her. Her eyes widened as she came to a realization.

"Anakin, did you say his empire" she asked speaking above the heated words of the senators.

"Yes. In less than two years Chancellor Palpatine will dissolve the Republic and turn it into an empire with himself as the emperor. In fact he is the one secretly behind this war! The more power you gave him, the more power he has to become emperor! It has taken me some time of careful investigation to find this information out. I asked you here to help me stop him. Loyal senators of the Republic, you must help us stop this empire from taking over," Anakin said pacing.

"Nice speech," Obi-Wan commented to him.

Anakin leaned in close to him. "You don't spend all your time between the negotiator and a senator and not pick some things up," he said in a low whisper.

All around them the senators erupted in more angry outburst. Only the be quieted down by Master Yoda. "Skywalker, explain your findings you will," he commanded.

"Yes Master," Anakin said and for the second time, Anakin explained his findings.

It had taken him longer this time due to being constantly interrupted by the senators, asking questions or yelling in outrage. But he continued to explain things. He didn't know why, but he left out the part that Chancellor Palpatine was a sith lord. The senators weren't ready for that yet. After hours of going over Anakin's findings, the senators and the jedi began their discussion on a plan of attack. Finally they had to call it quits for the night due to the lateness of the hour if the senators were going to get out of the temple unnoticed. One by one they all filed out until only Obi-Wan and Anakin remained.

Padme paused at the door next to Senator Organa. She placed a hand on his arm. "You go ahead, I can manage to get home by myself from here," she told him.

Senator Organa nodded. "Be safe, Padme," he told her worry clear on his face.

Padme smiled at her friend. "I have the jedi on my side, Senator," she told him.

Senator Organa nodded. "Very well," he told her and left.

Padme turned around to see Anakin rubbing his temples. Obi-Wan was giving him a worried look as he handed Anakin a small vial of red liquid. Padme frowned as she saw Anakin take whatever Obi-Wan had given him. Something was clearly amiss. She walked back down the steps and approached them. This time she didn't ask what was wrong. She knew that they wouldn't tell her and it upset her to the core.

"I should ask how you know everything that you told us," she said. When Anakin turned to face her she continued not wanting to hear what he had to say. "But I guess that's part of the mystery that you're leaving me out of. Now I'm going home to get changed so that I can go into the senate. Now that I know what Chancellor Palpatine is planning, I want to be there to make sure things don't work in his favor," she said and turned around to leave. Anakin didn't call her back.


	24. Intervention

A/N: Okay This is it for the week! No more until I get the chance to update on my vacation! I hope this is a good chapter to leave you guys with.

Brownie points to the person who could identify the sentences that have a reference to catholicism and can describe how they relate to it. That brownie point means that I will give you a secret plot point for later in the story, you get to choose which one you want by asking a question. The catch is, you must give me all the ones you spot. Hahaha.

How do I know about catholicism? I was raised as a high moraled catholic before I broke away from the church like my athiest father did. No I'm not an aithiest, but I don't belong to any organized religion, I'm spiritual in my own way.

Charlie.

* * *

Obi-Wan saw how Anakin watched Padme leave. He knew that Anakin was fighting with himself on whether to call her back or not. He shook his head. If only Anakin wasn't so stubborn. He understood why Padme was upset. Anakin needed to tell her the truth. It wasn't good for him or Padme for Vader to be kept a secret. He could see the strain that this secret was being put on his 'brothers' marriage. It was already stained as it was, slightly, due to it being kept a secret, but when you added another secret into it, there was even more pressure on that strain.

"You need to tell her, Anakin. Secrets will never help any. If you love her as much as you say you do, you will respect her enough to tell her the truth," Obi-Wan told him quietly.

Anakin's eyes remained on the spot where he had last seen Padme. "She'll never look at me the same way again," he said.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "You'll loose her trust if you keep up with what you're doing to her. Besides, if you continue to keep her in the dark, how will she know to protect herself if Vader _did_ come out? Remember what you saw while you were in the future," he said.

Anakin turned to him slowly. "I will not tell her, Obi-Wan. I've already see her horrified expression, I don't want to see it again," he told him firmly.

"Then you'll loose her, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him shutting off the holoprojector.

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Anakin laid down on the bed as dawn broke over Coruscant. Two days of none stop extensive training had finally gotten to him. He didn't even bother to undress and turn down the bed to sleep in it. He was just to exhausted. As soon as his head hit the pillow he fell asleep.

_Anakin ran through the smoke filled temple every once and a while stopping at the fallen jedi only to find that they were already dead. He had to move quickly if he were to save them! All around him he could hear the firing of blasters as the clones took down the jedi. With the jedi spread so far apart, they were powerless to stop this threat to their home. He shuddered as he felt more lives being torn apart. Why couldn't he stop it? There was still time. He had to get to the younglings! More smoke filled his vision and he stopped just as a piece of the ceiling came down in front of him in flames. That way was now out. Frantically he looked around for another way. He found it. He had used this secret pathway all too many times before. He quietly slipped through the passage. He ignited his lightsaber using the blade to light his way through the dark tunnel. He had to hurry. He had to save them! The pathway grew narrower the higher he climbed, but he pressed on. Just a few more steps and he'd be out of the passage. He manged to get out unnoticed and quickly ran to the turbo lift. As soon as the doors opened, he jumped in, he pressed the code clearance in for the high council chambers. He only hoped that he wasn't too late. Finally the doors to the lift opened and he stepped into the seemingly empty council chambers. They were here and they were hiding. Finally one, a boy with blond hair reminding Anakin a lot of himself when he was that age, came out from his hiding place._

_Master Skywalker, there's so many of them, what should we do?" the boy asked fearfully._

_Anakin pulled the boy close to him. "It's okay, I wont let them harm you," he reassured the child. He would protect these children with his life. The monster will not harm them. Anakin sensed him coming closer. He knew where they were. The child could sense it too as he clung to him. Anakin rubbed the child's arm in assurance. The monster will not harm them! Finally he bent down to the child. "Go back to your hiding place and don't move or make a sound, okay," he told the child who nodded fearfully at Anakin before going back to his hiding place._

_Anakin waited in front of those doors. He was coming closer. He was going to kill them! No! Anakin wont let him! Anakin wont let him hurt them. He'll stop the monster from hurting these children! Finally the doors opened reveling the black cloaked figure of the new sith lord. Anakin gripped his lightsaber firmly in his hand and the sith lord scrutinized him from under his hood. The sith gripping his own lightsaber, a blood red one. The mark of a sith. Finally slowly, the sith looked Anakin straight in the eyes smirking at him. Anakin found himself staring into his own face. But it wasn't his. This face had sith yellow eyes!_

_No! he destroyed him once before, he'll destroy him once again! Somehow he had to get him away from the younglings. Coming to a decision, he moved into position gripping his lightsaber in his hands firmly. "You will not harm them, Vader. You'll have to get through me before you touch them," he said determinedly._

_Vader laughed evilly. "Fool. You cannot stop me. It's pointless to fight me. You cannot fight your destiny!"_

"_I choose my own destiny and mine is not yours!" Anakin said._

"_You're a fool. You have no idea of the power the dark side has to offer!" Vader said and effortlessly force pushed Anakin across the chamber, his lightsaber flying out of his hands and clattering across the chamber. Vader took quick strides towards him before he spied the boy. The same one who clung to Anakin moments before. Vader smirked at him as he pulled the boy out of his hiding place by his collar. The boy put up a good fight, but Vader was stronger and he brought his blade up to the boy._

"_No!!!!!!!" Anakin screamed._

_Vader struck his lightsaber through the boy making him scream before dropping the dying child onto the floor. Anakin called his lightsaber in his hand and charged at Vader moving to strike him down but Vader blacked him._

"_Yes, use your anger, it makes you stronger. You hate me, use it to strike me down, only your hatred and anger can defeat me!" Vader goaded._

"_Never!" Anakin said._

_Vader smirked. "Very well then," he said and reached out his black gloved hand and used the force to pull another terrified youngling, a girl with curly brown hair and amber eyes who reminded Anakin a bit of Padme in the holos of her as a little girl in her parents house. The youngly screamed and cried as Vader pulled her to him. She frantically tried to get away but she was bound by the force to Vader. Vader grabbed her and forced her to him. _

_Anakin saw her terrified face look at him, tears glistening her eyes. She was silently begging him to help her. "Let her go!" Anakin demanded. _

_Vader smiled at him, making Anakin shiver. He traced her cherub face with his ungloved hand. "She would grow up to be so beautiful, don't you think, beautiful just as your wife," he taunted. _

"_Let her go Vader!" Anakin ordered. _

"_Or what, Skywalker? You'll do the unthinkable to me as you did the last time we met? It's quite impossible now, we are one. To kill me you would have to kill yourself. If you kill me now, you'll end your children's existence before they could form," Vader taunted. _

_Anakin couldn't argue with that. He couldn't do that to Luke and Leia, they deserved to live. Padme deserved to have them. He was powerless to defeat this sith. "Let her go," Anakin repeated. _

_Vader grinned. "It's already too late," he said and before Anakin could do anything a crimson blade sliced through the terrified youngling and she screamed before she crumpled to the floor dead. Next to the first youngling._

_Anakin rushed over and cradled each dead child. Their faces frozen in terror. It haunted him to no end. He couldn't save them. He failed them. He sensed Vader prowling the chambers. Anakin formed a strong determination to not fail again. He looked at each child's face and gently closed their eyes. He stood up and called his lightsaber into his hands. Vader was going to pay. _

_Vader paused but didn't look turn around to face him. "Ahhh, I can feel your anger. It's strong enough to taste," he said. _

Anakin shot up fully awake. He leaned over the side of the bed and covered his face in his hands. It wasn't going to end. The nightmare had no ending, it just kept going on and on. Vader was going to continue to taunt him until his dying breath. Anakin rubbed his hands on his face before rubbing them in his hair. It was getting longer every day. It was already covering the tops of his ears.

Anakin remembered what Minga said about sorting through dreams. Could writing about them really help? It was worth a try. Minga never lied to him or steered him wrong before. He got up and searched for an empty datapad in the top drawer of his dresser. He found one and made sure to key in a code so that he was the only one who could access it. He sat down and began to write out his dream.

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"I thought we went over this already," Obi-Wan commented as he rubbed his temples in a long suffering gesture. He was sitting across from Anakin in Padme's living room going over the 'sith evidence' for the fiftieth time. Obi-Wan had actually woken up to find Anakin working on this looking as though he hadn't slept, again. And as soon as Anakin noticed that he was up, he was recruited to help. Obi-Wan had no idea what he had gotten himself into by offering to help Anakin and now he was paying for it. "Anakin, I doubt that there is anything else to find. We've been over this over fifty times already!" he said.

"I'm missing something, I know it," Anakin said examining one of the datadiscs carefully.

"I'm sure that whatever it is, you wont find it here. I sincerely doubt that Chancellor Palpatine would keep everything in one place," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin looked at him sharply. "I'm NOT going back into that apartment ever again," he said flatly.

"That dark huh?" Obi-Wan commented.

"It was suffocating," Anakin told him. "I could swear that I could have died from asphyxiation if I had stayed in there any longer."

"When this is over we'll have to sweep the place from darkness," Obi-Wan told him.

"You can go do that, I'll stay at the temple while the rest of you exorcise that apartment," Anakin said.

"The amount of spy work you're doing, you'll have to go somewhere to cleanse yourself of this darkness that surrounds the chancellor," Obi-Wan commented.

"Don't worry I intend to, even if it means taking a bath in one of the temple fountains," Anakin said dryly. He switched off the holoprojector and stood up. He crossed his arms and rubbed his chin with his right gloved hand, briefly thinking that he needed to shave as he paced before his thoughts went back to the subject at hand.

"Will you stop that, you're making me dizzy," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin paused and looked at him, "What...Oh sorry," he said. He sat back down and slumped his shoulders. "I know that something is missing, but I can't put my finger on it," he said and sighed. He brought his hands up to his face and rubbed at it tiredly. "Agggg! This is getting me no where!" he groaned.

"Anakin, you've got quite a bit already! I hardly think that you've got nothing," Obi-Wan told him.

"I know, I know. But I need more!" Anakin said and leaned his head against the back of the couch still rubbing his face.

"Why don't you try to get some sleep, you don't look like you've gotten much as it is," Obi-Wan suggested.

"I don't need to sleep," Anakin muttered.

"It's those dreams again?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I'm working through them," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So you've talked about them with Minga?" he asked.

Anakin nodded. "She went into big sister mode and pried it out of me. Then she suggested that I keep a dream journal to work through them," he said.

"I see," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin looked at him at that. "You've been saying that a lot lately. Don't tell me that you've become a shrink," he said.

"Call it big brother mode. I'm the one taking care of you, again. I never thought I'd have to do it since you turned sixteen and stopped pulling pranks." he raised a hand and sliced through the air. "But here we are again. You're barely taking care of yourself now so I'm stuck babysitting you as though you were a child," he said.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at him. "I'm taking care of myself just fine, Obi-Wan," he told him.

"Tell me, Anakin, when was the last time you laughed, really laughed?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin was silent as he tried to remember when he had laughed last. It was before Bespin. Luke had slipped in engine grease on Hoth and had gotten it all over himself as he tried getting up several times only to slip again. Anakin smirked at the memory. That _was_ funny.

"I see that you remember, what was it that made you laugh?" Obi-Wan asked. So Anakin told him and Obi-Wan shook his head. "Reminds me of some of the stuff you'd do," he said dryly. "I remember when you were ten, You were running from Master Windu due to some prank you pulled on him, Baxter Ling was mopping the floor as a punishment, you were running, you slipped on the wet floor and crashed into Jocosta Nu as she was walking by with a pile of datapads," he said smiling. "I believe you were punished for that too," he added.

Anakin burst out laughing at the memory of that day. "I learned a valuable lesson that day, don't piss off Master Windu and run into Jocosta Nu while running away from Master Windu," he said.

"Didn't stop you from doing it again, though," Obi-Wan commented. He laughed to himself at the memory.

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Anakin paced around the apartment. It was well into the night and Padme _still_ wasn't home. He couldn't stop worrying if something had happened to her. Did Chancellor Palpatine find out what they were doing? If he hurt her in anyway, he was going to forgo all of his plans and murder Palpatine on the spot. She hadn't commed to say that she would be working late. She _always_ commed! Where was she?! He heard the turbo lift doors open and he turned around to see Padme walk in. She didn't even look at him, but walked past him.

"Where were you?" he demanded.

"That isn't any of your business," Padme snapped walking to their bedroom.

Anakin followed closely behind her. "Like hell it isn't!" he snapped. "You didn't comm to tell me that you would be late, I was worried sick thinking that the chancellor had found out about our operation and targeted you!" he yelled at her.

"Oh? Well I guess it doesn't feel good to be left out of the loop now does it!" Padme told him.

Anakin looked at her incredulously. "So you're punishing me because I'm not giving you the answers that you want?! That's low. I never thought that you would stoop so low!" he yelled at her.

"Well I figured why not?! If you get to act like somebody else, then so do I," she told him.

Anakin grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. "You don't get to act like this, Padme. Not now!" he told her.

"Let go of me!" she snapped yanking her arm free.

"Where were you, Padme?" Anakin demanded.

"I was working!" she snapped. "But where I was working and with who, you wont get out of me unless you tell me what is going on," she told him.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at her. "You'll never get it out of me this way. I already told you that I can't tell you!" he told her.

"Then I guess you don't have to sleep here, then," she told him. "Now get out, I wish to change for bed _alone_," she told him.

"This is my room too, Padme. I'm not leaving," he told her.

"GET OUT!" she yelled at him and threw one of the boxes that he had carved for her at him which flew past him hitting the wall and cracking.

Anakin looked at the cracked box that he had carved for her as a present for their first anniversary and back at her. He put up a mask making sure that she couldn't see how that simple act had hurt him and stalked out of the room. He stopped in the hallway and punched the wall with his right gloved hand making a dent before leaning his forehead against the wall taking a deep breath. As he tried to calm himself down, he could hear her crying behind the bedroom door. Not wishing to hear it when he knew that he was the cause for it, he walked back into the living room to throw on his cloak. He had to get out of here.

Obi-Wan was already standing in the doorway looking at him. "Where are you going?" he asked seeing Anakin walking to the door.

"I need to get out of here," Anakin told him.

"Anakin, you can't leave here like this," Obi-Wan told him.

"Watch me!" Anakin snapped.

"I'm coming with you!" Obi-Wan said grabbing his cloak. "I'm not going to let you do anything rash, not like this," he said strictly.

"Fine by me!" Anakin told him and the two jedi left for the garage where Anakin pulled a tarp off of an air speeder painted blue and black with a license plat on that back that read 'Chsn1'.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at that. "Could you be any more creative?" he commented.

"Shut up and get in," Anakin told him jumping into the open cockpit.

"I just know that I'm going to regret this," Obi-Wan muttered as he got in.

Anakin sped out of the parking space and flew up into the heavy air traffic. Obi-Wan gripped the sides of the cockpit as Anakin narrowly missed a airbus.

"Watch were you're going Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted as he looked back at the airbus. He looked at Anakin to see his face in a hard mask. He knew that Anakin was trying his best to control his emotions.

Anakin zoomed in and out of traffic narrowly missing the other speeders. The other pilots yelled and shook their fists at him. Suddenly Anakin pulled a steep nose dive and Obi-Wan held on for dear life.

"Pull up Anakin! Pull up!" he yelled. Anakin pulled up from the dive and headed toward a tunnel. "Wait don't go in there!" Obi-Wan yelled. But Anakin ignored him and they raced into the tunnel Obi-Wan's eyes widened in fear as he saw a tram coming at them. Anakin braked suddenly, turned around, and raced out, barely ahead of the charging commuter transport. "You know I don't like it when you do that!" he yelled.

"I'm sorry Obi-Wan, I forgot that you don't like flying," Anakin said.

"I don't mind flying but what you're doing is Suicide!" Obi-Wan yelled at him. How many times did they have to go over this?!

"You know I've been flying since before I could walk. I'm very good at this," Anakin told him automatically as he zoomed through traffic.

"Good at trying to give me a heart attack!" Obi-Wan shouted at him as they narrowly missed an oncoming collision with an air taxi.

"You're the one who insisted that you come along!" Anakin reminded him.

"To keep you from doing something stupid, not to die!" Obi-Wan yelled at him.

Anakin sped through a power refinery coming close to power couplings. "Anakin! How many times do I have to tell you?! It's dangerous near those power couplings! Slow down! Don't go through there!" Obi-Wan yelled but Anakin ignored him and zoomed through anyways. Huge electrical bolts shoot between the buildings as the speeders passed. "Yiiii, what are you doing?!" Obi-Wan yelled as they passed through the electrical bolts.

"Sorry Master," Anakin apologized seeing the look of horror slowly leaving Obi-Wan's face.

"That was good!" Obi-Wan said sarcastically crossing his arms.

Anakin smirked. "That was crazy!!!!" he yelled enjoying himself. He sped through traffic again but the speeder jerked as it went through the aftershocks of the power refinery. "Ah damn," Anakin muttered as the speeder jerked again.

"What?! What did you do?!" Obi-wan asked seeing Anakin frown.

"Hold on," Anakin told him and went back down in a steep dive once again.

"Pull up Anakin! Pull up!" Obi-wan yelled at him, his eyes growing wide with fear as they headed towards the top of a building. "Anakin! Pull up now or we'll never make it! He yelled.

"We'll make it," Anakin told him firmly pulling up slightly, scraping the building as he did so.

"If you're going to commit suicide, take the sith lord with you not me!" Obi-Wan shouted at him as they weaved in and out of traffic again. Anakin pulled another dive, coming close to another building. "I'm crazy... I'm crazy... I'm crazy," Obi-wan muttered to himself as they came very close to the building.

Suddenly the speeder jerked again and stalled. Anakin worked at the controls furiously trying to regain power as the plummeted further towards the building. "Hold on, I'm going to try something," Anakin instructed.

"I shouldn't have come with you! This speeder is dead because of you! You wont get the power back in time!" Obi-Wan shouted. He began praying a death prayer he had memorized when he was a young padawan.

Anakin briefly looked at Obi-Wan before fiddling with one of the switches and open wires from where he took a panel off. Suddenly the speeder regained power and Anakin pulled up just before they crashed into the building. "See it worked!" he told Obi-Wan brightly. But the speeder stalled again.

"It didn't work... we've stalled! And you almost got us killed!" Obi-Wan yelled at him.

"I think we're still alive," Anakin told him as he messed around with the speeders wiring and controls. Finally he got the speeder working again. He sped off again into traffic.

"By sheer dumb luck we're still breathing! I swear Anakin, you're going to be the death of me!" Obi-Wan snapped at him.

"Please don't say that Obi-Wan," Anakin said a troubled look crossing his face and Obi-Wan regretted his words.

"I'm sorry Anakin, I didn't mean it that way," Obi-Wan said.

"But you did say it," Anakin told him finally parking the speeder outside a club, The Zhora Room.

"What are we doing here?" Obi-Wan asked.

"For drinks," Anakin said simply as he hopped out of the speeder and pulled the hood of his cloak up over his face. Obi-Wan quickly followed him.

"I can't believe that we went through all that just to come here for drinks," Obi-Wan grumbled. Anakin briefly looked back at him as they entered The Zhora Room.

The Zhora Room was crawling with all lifeforms each looking at the two cloaked jedi with hostility, suspicion, and invitation as they moved through the club which had holoscreens projecting all different scenes and music. The club was brightly lit and many life forms danced close together to the loud music. Both Anakin and Obi-Wan approached the bar and took two seats. Anakin ordered some kind of drink that Obi-Wan had never heard of and Obi-Wan just ordered his usual which wasn't very potent.

Obi-Wan scrunched up his face as he saw the tall glass filled with a steaming glowing green liquid. "What in all that's holy is that?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Zhora Juice," Anakin told him and started drinking it.

"Do I even want to know what is in it?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin finished the tall glass and ordered another. "No, you probably don't," he answered. Another tall glass filled with the steaming zhora juice was placed in front of Anakin who drank it greedily.

Obi-Wan nursed his drinks as Anakin ordered drink after drink. He knew that there was no way to stop Anakin from drinking tonight when he had been thrown all the trouble on his plate.

A human-like alien who was sitting on the other side of Anakin at the bar leaned in closer to Anakin. "Hey you want to buy some death sticks?" it asked.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan leaned in closer and waved his hand. "You don't want to sell us death sticks," he said.

"I don't want to sell you death sticks," the alien said.

"You want to go home and rethink your life," Obi-wan said.

"I want to go home and rethink my life," the alien said leaving the bar.

Anakin turned to Obi-Wan sharply. "What did you do that for?" he asked.

"Anakin, need I remind you that death sticks are illegal drugs and they cloud your ability to connect with the force," Obi-Wan said.

"Maybe that's something that I need right now," Anakin muttered. He downed his seventh glass of zhora juice. His head had begun spinning from the amount of alcohol he had drank. The room seemed to be spinning on him. He was powerless to stop it. His danger senses kicked in but he knew that he couldn't do anything about it when everything seemed to be spinning around him.

Obi-Wan noticed Anakin groan and slump to the left slightly before his own danger senses kicked in. Something was wrong here. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the bartender looking at Anakin before his eyes darted to a spot behind him. Obi-Wan turned suddenly and pulled out his lightsaber disarming what appeared to be a woman holding a blaster at Anakin. Her eyes widened at seeing who was with Anakin this time around before she ran off. He was about to chase after her before he heard a loud thump. He turned around to see Anakin crumpled on the floor.

"Oh no," he muttered quickly checking on Anakin who groaned as though in pain. He quickly helped him to his feet. "Come on Anakin, we need to get out of here," he said helping to support his 'brother'. He helped him get to the speeder where this time Obi-Wan was piloting. He flew them to the temple where he laded on one of the landing strips before helping Anakin out who was still groaning as though in pain.

"Come on, we're going to see Minga, Anakin," Obi-wan said as they walked through the temple.

"I don't want to go to the medical bay, take me somewhere else," Anakin groaned.

"Anakin, something wasn't right with what you drank," Obi-Wan told him.

"I don't care, just don't take me to the medical bay," Anakin told him and groaned.

"Fine," Obi-Wan said. He had agreed not to take him to the medical bay, but he never agreed to not let Minga have a look at him. They trudged through the temple and reached Obi-Wan's quarters where he had Anakin lay down on the couch. As Anakin rolled over a groaned once again, Obi-wan quickly commed Minga telling her to meet them here and that he thought that Anakin may have been poisoned.

Minga had arrived sooner than Obi-Wan had expected with a bag full of supplies. She looked over to where Anakin was groaning on the couch and she paused. "Oh Anakin," she said sadly kneeling down next to him.

"What are you doing here?" Anakin asked seeing her beside him.

"Obi-Wan seems to think that you were poisoned. Do you remember what it was you drank?" she said.

"Go away Minga," Anakin told her and groaned curling away from her crossing his arms over his stomach.

"I'm not leaving Anakin," Minga told him firmly going into big sister mode.

"I want to be left alone," Anakin groaned.

"Anakin, you've been poisoned, you need to be treated or you'll die!" Obi-Wan told him.

"Then let me die!" Anakin snapped and groaned.

"Anakin! We're not doing that!" Minga told him. She turned to Obi-wan. Do you have a basin or something?" she asked.

"Yeah, somewhere around here, why?" Obi-Wan replied.

"I'm going to give him something to flush the poison out of his system, he'll need something to throw up in," Minga told him.

"Hold on a sec then," Obi-Wan said going into the refresher and coming out with what appeared to be a trashcan.

"Why do you have a trashcan in your refresher?" Minga asked him raising an eyebrow, usually female humans only had trashcans in their refreshers.

"Old habit. Anakin used to like to tepee the refresher when he was bored, I figured that it would be wise to keep a trashcan in there," Obi-Wan explained placing the trashcan beside Anakin.

Minga shook her head. "How much sweet powder did you use to give him?" she asked injecting Anakin with a purple liquid.

"Don't blame me, it was Master Yoda who kept giving him candy," Obi-Wan told her.

Suddenly whatever Minga gave Anakin kicked in and Anakin leaned over the couch and vomited a rather sickly purplish black vomit.

"He was defenantly poisoned," Minga said as she and Obi-Wan scrunched up their noses at the sickly looking and smelling vomit.

"I'm getting rid of that trashcan," Obi-Wan said, using the force to dump in down the toilet in the refresher and the to rinse it out in the shower.

"Good idea," Minga commented.

Anakin groaned as he resumed him old position. "That was foul," he muttered.

"I bet," Obi-Wan said.

"Can I crash here for awhile?" Anakin asked weakly.

"Anakin, you need to go home and talk things out," Obi-Wan told him.

"I can't go back there," Anakin told him.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan said sternly.

"Padme made it quite clear that I wasn't welcome home," Anakin told him not facing them and groaned again as his stomach turned again before it stilled.

Minga looked at Obi-Wan sharply and Obi-Wan quickly tried to think of an explanation before she spoke. "Let me guess, he had a fight with the wife," she said.

"You know?" Obi-Wan asked breathing a sigh of relief.

"Anakin told me," Minga said and nodded.

"Anakin hasn't told Padme about Vader and she threw him out for keeping secrets. Anakin's blatant refusal to to tell her is driving a wedge between them. I told him that he'll loose her if he didn't tell her," Obi-Wan explained.

Minga nodded. "He needs to rest, lets get him to his old bedroom and I'll give him something to sleep dreamlessly," she said.

"That sounds like a plan," Obi-wan said agreeing. He then helped Anakin up who, still weak from the poison, leaned into him as Obi-Wan got him to his old room which was still scattered in droid parts. The bed was still unmade when Anakin laid down in it.

Minga followed them in there carefully stepping around the droid parts and injected Anakin with a steal blue liquid which worked instantaneously making Anakin fall asleep. Minga then tucked the blankets around Anakin before she and Obi-Wan left the room.

"I think we need to take matters in our own hands," Minga said.

Obi-Wan crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you suggest?" he asked.

"I think we need to tell his wife what Anakin isn't," Minga told him. "Anakin can't go on like this, it isn't good for him," she added.

"I agree," Obi-wan said. "I think the sooner we do, the better. While Anakin is sleeping, is the best time," he added.

Minga nodded. "Go get her, I'll stay with Anakin," she said.

Obi-Wan nodded. "I'll be back," he told her.

-------------------------------------------------------

Obi-Wan paused outside Senator Amidala's bedroom door. The last time that he was in here, was during the assassination attempts on her life two years ago. Taking a deep breath, he opened to door to find her sleeping. He quietly walked over to her to see that she must have cried herself to sleep. "_Oh Anakin, why can't you see what you're letting Vader do already?_" He thought. Gently he woke Padme up.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Padme, but you must come with me to the temple," he told her as she sat up in bed.

"What for?" she asked.

"It's about Anakin," he told her and paused. "I think it's time that you are filled in," he told her.

"What is wrong with Anakin?" she asked.

"I'll tell you at the temple," Obi-wan told her leaving her to get dressed. He waited in the living room until she came out in a pair of pants and shirt. Obi-Wan handed her Anakin's cloak. "You'll want to wear this," he told her.

Padme threw Anakin's cloak on around her, briefly inhaling the scent of his aftershave as she pulled the hood over her head. She followed Obi-Wan into Anakin's speeder where he flew them to the temple. When they reached the temple, Obi-Wan led her through the temple to his quarters where Minga sat waiting for them.

Padme looked around but didn't see Anakin. "Where is Anakin?" she asked.

"He's sleeping, Padme. We had to give him something to make him sleep," Obi-Wan said.

Padme noticed the blue eyed brunette who looked to be Obi-Wan's age stand up. "I'm Minga Durron, You must be Anakin's wife," she said.

Padme nodded. "Yes, how do you know?" she said.

Minga smiled faintly. "Anakin told me. I wasn't as shocked as I should have been to hear that he broke the code to marry you. I knew how Anakin felt about the no attachments rule," she said.

"Padme, what we are about to tell you, I think you should sit down for," Obi-Wan told her.

Padme looked at Obi-Wan with worry. "How bad is it?" she asked.

"It's very serious," Obi-Wan told her and Padme sat down on the couch fearing the worst.

"Padme, Minga is a jedi healer, she is experienced in all forms of healing including psychological healing," Obi-Wan told her.

"What are you trying to say, Obi-Wan?" Padme asked.

"Anakin is suffering from a very serious disorder, Padme," Obi-Wan told her.

"What kind of disorder?" Padme asked.

"Padme, have you ever heard of DID?" Minga asked. Padme shook her head and Minga continued. "It stands for Dissociative Identity disorder," she said.

Padme looked up at Obi-Wan to see if she could read his face. They were being serious! But they couldn't be seriously telling her that her husband had a split personality! It was unheard of! She had worked in mental hospitals while she was in the legislative relief group back on Naboo but she hadn't heard of anything like this. It was something that had never occurred. But the look in Obi-Wan's eyes said it all. "No!" she said shaking her head. "I don't believe you," she told them.

"Padme," Obi-Wan said taking her hands. "This other personality, he calls himself Darth Vader. This is why Anakin didn't tell you. He's afraid of himself," he told her.

Padme took her hands away from his and looked from him and Minga, they were worried about her reaction.

"Padme, you must listen to us, we are doing everything we can to help Anakin, but he also needs your support," Minga told her.

Padme shook her head and stood up abruptly. "No! You listen!" she snapped. "Do you even hear yourselves. You're trying to tell me that my husband is disturbed. That he has a sith lord living inside of him! You say that you care for him, but look at what you're doing to him, to us!" she snapped.

"Padme, we both love Anakin as if he were our brother, we would not be telling you or him this if it were not true! I would not lie about this," Obi-Wan told her. "Look, I know it to be true because I have seen Darth Vader trying to come out before he could be contained," he told her.

"Padme, DID is brought on by a traumatic event. This has been going on for two years, ever since his mother died," Minga told her.

Padme remembered that day, Anakin was deeply disturbed by Shmi's death. He had done something horrible, it wasn't like him. Padme sat down again as what she had been told sunk in. No! Oh Anakin. How were they going to get through this? She knew that it was true. Why else would Anakin keep something from her that was troubling him when he never did that before? He was afraid of how she would react. He was afraid of himself. Padme looked up at Obi-Wan. "Where is he?" she asked.

"He's in the room on the left," Obi-Wan told her.

Padme nodded and got up. She walked over and entered through the door on the left to see Anakin's sleeping form on the bed. Droid parts were scattered all over the floor making her moving around difficult. When she reached the bed, she traced his jaw with her finger tip. How could this be happening to him? Why would something so terrible happen to him, what did he do to deserve this? "You should have told me," she whispered and lightly kissed him making sure not to wake him up. She gently climbed on the bed and curled up next to him. Whatever happened from now on, they would get through it together.


	25. Poisoned

A/N: I know that I've never been perfect in spotting my mistakes before, but this chapter and the others until I get home will be full of even more mistakes due to the fact that the old man only has wordpad on his computer.

The answer to the challange from the last chapter is...

""You can go do that, I'll stay at the temple while the rest of you exorcise that apartment," Anakin said.

"The amount of spy work you're doing, you'll have to go somewhere to cleanse yourself of this darkness that surrounds the chancellor," Obi-Wan commented.

"Don't worry I intend to, even if it means taking a bath in one of the temple fountains," Anakin said dryly."

Exorcisms are performed on houses and people to drive out evil spirits. An Exorcism is usially perfromed by a ctholic priest. And Exorcisms are widly associated with the catholic church. I'm surprised no one pointed it out besides jedidaughter1.

Where Anakin says that he'll take a bath in the temple fountians to clens himself of the darkness, that for me came from being baptized to rid yourself from origional sin. In the catholic church this is done while we are still babies. But with other religions it is done when a person is older so they understand what is going on. Again, the only one who pointed that out was jedidaughter1.

Now to my next challage. Anakin's dream finally comes to a close in this chapter. Can anyone tell me what his reaccuring dream means? It's very significant to the story.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Charlie.

* * *

Anakin woke up the next morning feeling Padme's sleeping form curled up on top of him. Normally, he would just lay there waiting for her to wake up, but the churning in his stomach wouldn't go away. Using the force, he gently lifted her off of him and down next to him as he threw the covers off his himself quickly jumping out of bed only to step on something and fall hitting several hard and oddly shaped objects. He cursed colorfully in huttiese before he picked up the object closest to his face and held it up. Droid parts. Why were there droid parts all over the floor with Padme asleep? If she ever found a mess like this she would have woken him up and made him clean it up. He didn't even remember making the mess! As he looked around he realized that he wasn't home. He began to panic wondering briefly if that was really Padme who was ontop of him before his jedi senses kicked in and sighed with relief. It was Padme. Did she forgive him? And where were they? He looked around and realized that he was in his old room at the temple. And then the events of the night before came back to him at full speed. Before he could ponder when Padme had come to the temple, he quickly jumped up as the churning in his stomach acted up again. He didn't care how much noise he made as he ran out of the room and into the refresher where he proceeded in emptying his stomach. Oh gods that was foul!

"It's still in your system! Oh Anakin, I don't care what you say, how much you protest. You're coming down to the medical bay today!" Minga said sternly.

"I'm...not...sick..." Anakin muttered as he continued to empty his stomach.

Minga slapped him in the head. "You're too damn stubborn for your own good!" she snapped.

Finally there was nothing left in his stomach and he leaned against the wall. "Just leave it alone, Minga," he told her and then looked at her rumpled look. "What _are_ you _doing_ here?" he asked her.

"I stayed to make sure you were alright, which clearly you're not," Minga told him crossing her arms. Great she was in big sister mode. She knelt down in front of him and rested her palm against his forehead. "You're running a fever," she told him scrunching her face up in worry.

Anakin slapped her hand away from him. "I'm fine," he told her.

Minga raised a thick eyebrow at him. "Oh? Then why is your stomach doing flip flops and you're vomit is black?" she asked him.

Anakin briefly peeked into the toilet and then quickly regretted it. "Okay, maybe I'm not fine," he conceded.

"What exactly did you drink last night?" Minga asked him.

"I was at The Zhora Room hoping to get drunk so I ordered seven of the most potent drinks they had," Anakin answered her.

"Anakin," Minga said stressing his name. "You know that you shouldn't be drinking like this. One, it's not good for you. Two, you're a jedi, you're supposed to be sober at all times," she told him stressing her point using her hands as she counted her points with her fingers.

Anakin imitated her with his own points. "One, I don't care. Two, leave me alone!" he said.

"Real mature Anakin," Minga said dryly.

"Why be mature when I have a mental illness," Anakin replied sarcastically.

"Anakin," Minga sighed. She looked at him in worry. He was too pale to her liking. "We need to know what you were poisoned with, I have to run some tests on you. The sooner the better," she said.

"I'm not going to the medical bay," Anakin told her stubbornly.

"We'll see what Padme says then," Minga told him clicking her tongue.

"Padme has no control over me," Anakin said crossing his arms.

Minga raised an eyebrow at him as she crossed her arms. "Really? Then How was she able to kick you out last night?" she asked.

"Shut up," Anakin said failing to give her a valid comeback. he then stood up and pushed past Minga and walked into the living room where Obi-Wan was now sitting in.

"Think you're feeling better, Anakin?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan looked over Anakin's shoulder at Minga. "Is he?" he asked.

Minga shook her head. "I want to run some tests and see what he was poisoned with, I don't think it's completely out of his system yet," she told him.

Obi-Wan rubbed his forehead. "Why would someone poison you Anakin? Can you think of any reason or who?" he asked.

Anakin slumped into a chair and rubbed his face with his hands. "I have no clue. I know that it couldn't have been Sidious unless he discovered my betrayal," he said.

"I think this needs to be investigated some. This wasn't the first time, remeber the thugs on Tatooine," Obi-Wan said.

"I barely remeber that," Anakin told him.

Minga looked between the two jedi concerned. "What happened on Tatooine beside Vader wanting to come out?" she asked.

"Apparently there's a bounty on Anakin's head and the thugs were supposed to bring Anakin to Mustafar for some odd reason," Obi-Wan told her.

At the name Mustafar, a look of horror crossed Anakin's face as Vader's memories of mustafar swam through his head. ":No, not mustafar," he muttered fearfully.

Both Anakin and Minga looked at him worriedly but before either of the could ask him what was wrong, Padme came out of Anakin's room.

"Ani?" she said rushing over to Anakin and kneeling infront of him. she played with the ends of his hair and looked him in the eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

Anakin looked at her confused. "Tell you what?" he asked her.

"Why didn't you tell me about Darth Vader? I could have been helping you, not getting mad at you," Padme said. she wanted to say more but Anakin held her wrists in his hands and pulled her hands away from him and he looked her in the eyes.

"Who told you about Vader?" he asked her very calmly.

Minga and Obi-Wan looked at each other knowing that this wasn't going to go over too well. Anakin was too calm, that wasn't a good sign. "Anakin," Obi-Wan began.

Anakin turned to Obi-Wan sharply, anger filling his eyes. "You told her!" he yelled standing up.

"She needed to know!" Obi-Wan told him.

"No! You had no right! I told you that I didn't want her to know!" Anakin shouted.

"Anakin, please don't get upset with them," Padme said taking his arm but Anakin shoved her off.

"Anakin, keeping Vader a secret from the ones who care about you isn't good for anyone, most of all you!" Minga told him.

"I don't care about that!" Anakin snapped at them.

"You will care when you start to loose contol!" Obi-Wan told him patiently.

Anakin shook his head as he paced. They had no right to tell her. No right at all. He had specifically told them that he did not want Padme to know about Vader. They completly disregarded his wishes. And what now? Padme knows. How could she be dealing with the the fact that her husband is half monster? How could she even look at him now?

"Anakin," Minga said stepping forward. "You must understand why we told her," she said.

"No, what I don't understand is how you can have so little respect for me to go against my wishes," Anakin said.

Padme looked from Obi-Wan and Minga and back to her husband before speaking up. "Why is it that you didn't want me to know, Anakin?" she asked placing a hand on his arm making him stop his pacing.

Anakin turned to look at her. Everything he preconcived about her knowing was put on hold when he didn't see revoultion in her eyes, just worry. What was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to confess his fears to her? He couldn't do that. He refused to do that. He still had that _choice_. But the question still remained. What was he going to tell her now? The churning in his stomach had returned, but this time it came with pain. Horrible stabbing pain. He felt as though his insides were being torn apart. He crossed his arms over his stomach and fell to his knees as the pain intensified.

"Something's wrong," he managed to say before he fell to the floor as the pain grew too intense making his concious unable to bere it as he passed out.

----------------------------------------------------

Lord Sidious looked down on the young female assasion with disgust. His men had captured her the night before as she ran from the Zhora Room after Anakin Skywalker was fed a form of poison. His men who followed Skywalker everywhere he went while on Coruscant had brought the fiesty young assasion to him. She somehow reminded him of Zam Wesell. Too bad Zam had to die. But this assasion looked up at him from her spot on her knees, her hands were bound behind her back, but she still had an air of defiance about her.

"Who hired you to assasinate Skywalker?" Lord Sidious asked.

The assasion sneered up at him. "You'll get nothing out of me old man," she told him.

Lord sidious frowned. "You may want to reconsider," he told her.

The assasion smirked at him. "What could _you_ do to me? A man as feeble as you are nothing compared to me," she said.

If it were possible Lord Sidious' frown deepened. "A pity you feel that way," he said and sent sith lightning at her making her wither on the floor in agony. after his assult on her ended she looked up at him with fear in her eyes. "Now you will tell me who hired you to assanate Skywalker.

"What is he to you?" she asked.

"That my girl is not important. If you do not wish anymore pain, you will answer my question," Lord Sidious said threatening.

The assaion looked up at him trying to decide which would be worse, being eleticuted or what other way she could be killed. She chose to answer his question, she could always escape the wrathe of the one who hired her. "I was not hired to kill him, just to bring him to Mustafar. I don't know who wants him there, I was hired by a bounty hunter named Dirthmar. Who ever wants Skywalker to go to Mustafar want him alive enough for them to finish the job themselves," she told him.

Lord Sidious mulled over this information. Somebody wanted Anakin Skywalker dead. But who? Knowing that he would get nothing more out of this young girl, he decided to make an example out of her. "You've done well, but I'm afraid it's not enough," he said. he took in her fearful face and smiled. Yes, fear, how he lived for it. Someday they will all fear him. This time when he sent sith lightning at her, he made it stronger. he took in sadistic satifaction as she withered in pain, screaming in pain for long aganizing minutes before her body could take no more and she died. As he looked down on her dead body he was determined to find who wanted Skywalker dead and kill them himself. He needed Skywalker, his soul will be his.

---------------------------------------------------

"Anakin!" Padme shouted dropping to her knees next to Anakin, She pulled him closer to her and panicked when she felt his cold skin. She turned to Minga who instantly checked on Anakin. "What's wrong with him?!" she demanded.

"We need to get him to the medical bay immidiatly!" Minga said urgently.

Padme looked at her unconcious husband in fear. It happened so suddenly. Was Vader coming out? Is this how it happened?

"Anakin was poisoned last night, Padme," Obi-Wan said also checking on Anakin.

"Poisoned! He was fine just a minute ago!" Padme cried frantically.

"We thought so too, but whatever was given him, obviously wants to stay in his system," Obi-Wan told her. He then hefted Anakin's unconcious form up and slung him over his shoulder. "You might want to put Anakin's cloak back on if you are to come with us to the medical bay," he added.

Padme nodded and quickly retrived Anakin's cloak before tightly securing over herself and the three of them hurridly brought Anakin to the medical bay. The other jedi in the temple watched them curiously as they hurried past them. Padme's worry increased with each aganizing long steps they ran to get Anakin to the medical bay. The longer they took the more delayed they were to get Anakin the treatment that he needed. The fact that Anakin could die ran through her head over and over again. But he couldn't die. She wont let him! She needed him more than anything. He was a part of her. Just as she was a part of him. She couldn't live without him.

Finally they made it to the medical bay. Obi-Wan laid Anakin's unconcious form on an examining table. Minga proceeded in getting the equipment ready to keep Anakin alive.

"I need someone to remove his tunic," Minga instructed.

Padme who was by Anakin's side quickly began removing Anakin's tunics, one at a time. If it were even possible, he was getting paler by the minute. Finally Anakin laid there completely shirtless and Padme couldn't stop looking at him in worry as hey lay there completely still and pale as a sheet.

Minga came over and injected his shoulder with a pale blue liquid. "This will help stableize him," she said and then proceeded in hooking him up to a machine to monitor his heartbeat which was growing fainter by the minute. Minga hooked him to another machine to run some tests to determine which poison was given him. "I wish You would have brought him here last night," she said looking pointedly at Obi-Wan.

"I wanted to, but you know how Anakin is. Even in his weakened state, he would have faught me if I had brought him here," Obi-Wan told her.

"Sometimes it's best to ignore his childish attitude about cirtain things," Minga snapped. She read the list of all possible poisons off of a computer screen. She wasn't quite sure which poison was used. If she used the wrong antidote, things could get worse. She had to be extra careful. Anakin's life depended on it. She looked down at Anakin, not liking how pale he was. She rested a hand on his forehead feeling how cold he was. Too cold to her liking.

Master Skywalker, there's so many of them, what should we do?" the boy asked fearfully.

Anakin pulled the boy close to him. "It's okay, I wont let them harm you," he reassured the child. He would protect these children with his life. The monster will not harm them. Anakin sensed him coming closer. He knew where they were. The child could sense it too as he clung to him. Anakin rubbed the child's arm in assurance. The monster will not harm them! Finally he bent down to the child. "Go back to your hiding place and don't move or make a sound, okay," he told the child who nodded fearfully at Anakin before going back to his hiding place.

Anakin waited in front of those doors. He was coming closer. He was going to kill them! No! Anakin wont let him! Anakin wont let him hurt them. He'll stop the monster from hurting these children! Finally the doors opened reveling the black cloaked figure of the new sith lord. Anakin gripped his lightsaber firmly in his hand and the sith lord scrutinized him from under his hood. The sith gripping his own lightsaber, a blood red one. The mark of a sith. Finally slowly, the sith looked Anakin straight in the eyes smirking at him. Anakin found himself staring into his own face. But it wasn't his. This face had sith yellow eyes!

No! he destroyed him once before, he'll destroy him once again! Somehow he had to get him away from the younglings. Coming to a decision, he moved into position gripping his lightsaber in his hands firmly. "You will not harm them, Vader. You'll have to get through me before you touch them," he said determinedly.

Vader laughed evilly. "Fool. You cannot stop me. It's pointless to fight me. You cannot fight your destiny!"

"

"

"

Vader struck his lightsaber through the boy making him scream before dropping the dying child onto the floor. Anakin called his lightsaber in his hand and charged at Vader moving to strike him down but Vader blacked him.

"

"

Vader smirked. "Very well then," he said and reached out his black gloved hand and used the force to pull another terrified youngling, a girl with curly brown hair and amber eyes who reminded Anakin a bit of Padme in the holos of her as a little girl in her parents house. The youngly screamed and cried as Vader pulled her to him. She frantically tried to get away but she was bound by the force to Vader. Vader grabbed her and forced her to him.

Anakin saw her terrified face look at him, tears glistening her eyes. She was silently begging him to help her. "Let her go!" Anakin demanded.

Vader smiled at him, making Anakin shiver. He traced her cherub face with his ungloved hand. "She would grow up to be so beautiful, don't you think, beautiful just as your wife," he taunted.

"

"

Anakin couldn't argue with that. He couldn't do that to Luke and Leia, they deserved to live. Padme deserved to have them. He was powerless to defeat this sith. "Let her go," Anakin repeated.

Vader grinned. "It's already too late," he said and before Anakin could do anything a crimson blade sliced through the terrified youngling and she screamed before she crumpled to the floor dead. Next to the first youngling.

Anakin rushed over and cradled each dead child. Their faces frozen in terror. It haunted him to no end. He couldn't save them. He failed them. He sensed Vader prowling the chambers. Anakin formed a strong determination to not fail again. He looked at each child's face and gently closed their eyes. He stood up and called his lightsaber into his hands. Vader was going to pay.

Vader paused but didn't look turn around to face him. "Ahhh, I can feel your anger. It's strong enough to taste," he said.

Anakin knew that he was goading him. He held his lightsaber firmly in his hands. He knew that if he struck now it would be in anger. Anager was a path to the dark side. Was he able to defeat the sith without anger? Would it destroy him?

In Anakin's moment of hesitation, Vader smirked to himself as he pulled a handfull of yougling to him. "You're hesitation is defening," he said plunging his blade through each of the five younglings making then scream in terror and pain.

Anakin was unable to hold off any longer. His anger had taken full contol of him. He was going to avenge each child that Vader had killed. He lunged at Vader's back only to have the sith turn around sharply to deflect his blow. Vader matched each strike that Anakin threw at him. Both were as strongf and as skilled as the other. Vader kicked him in the stomach making Anakin double over. He had no time to collect himself as Vader advanced on him. Vader moved to strike him down by bringing his crimson lightsaber on him but Anakin blocked him just in time. Anakin got to his feet advancing on Vader. But Vader just smirked at him as he used the force to through anakin through the window shattering it.

Anakin fdelt himself fall from the incredible hight that the high council chambers was located. There was nothing he could grab onto as he continued to fall. He had failed to protect the younglings. They were dead because of him. He was a failure. finally in what seemed like an enternity, Anakin hit the ground on his back, his lightsaber clattering to the ground beside him. All around his flames and lava rose twenty feet in the air. Anakin quickly looked around. He way laying on black rocky ground while the flames and lava continued to rise and fall. He was on Mustafar!

The heart monitor went into a wild frenzy! Minga had to quickly find a way to calm it. She knew that whatever was going on now had nothing to do with the poison. It was all Anakin as he tried to fight whatever was in him. She saw how his eyes, while closed, darted around in his head. She turned back to her test screan as her computer ran the tests searching for the name of the poison that had entered his system.

Padme stayed at Anakin's side as he fought for his life. She held his hands in her own destrought over how cold they were. They still didn't know what the poison was yet and the longer it took, the more scared she was of loosing Anakin.

Obi-Wan stood by hellessly as he stared fixidly at Anakin's unconcious form. He cursed himself for listening to Anakin's protests last night. He should have brought him here immediatly. He knew better! Anakin was his brother, he couldn't loose him. Anakin wasn't the only one who broke the code against attachments. Obi-Wan had grown very attached to Anakin over the years. He just couldn't loose him.

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Master Yoda sat in his chambers meditating when he sensed it. The pain and the fear of loss. Something was terribly wrong and he knew that it centered around young Anakin Skywalker. He saw the pain clear as day as he closed his eyes. He saw the machines in the medical bay and he saw Skywalker pale as a ghost.

"Anakin is in trouble," The ghost of Qui-gon Jinn said making the aged grand master open his eyes sharply and look at the force ghost.

"Know that I do," Master Yoda said moving to get up.

"Someone wants him dead," Qui-Gon said gravely.

"Stay with Skywalker you do?" Master Yoda asked.

"I made a promise to his mother. I have always been a man of my word," Qui-gon said.

"Honor, ana improtant thing for a jedi that is," Master Yoda said as he hobbled to the door.

"I'll meet you at the medical bay," Qui-Gon said before disappearing.

Master Yoda humphed before heading to the medical bay.

---------------------------------------------------------------

After a long time of scanning, the test screen came to a stop and the name of the poison showed up in bold letters. Liquentia. While poisonus the lequentia, a type of fish that resided in the lakes of Byss, it's oil could damage a persons internal system if it were swallowed, the severety of the damage depended on the speciace that digested it. Minga knew that she had to come up with the antidote quickly if Anakin were to make it without a scratch and recover fully.

Obi-Wan came up to the screen and read what came up. "Whoever wants Anakin dead only wants to weaken him and finish the job themselves," he said.

"the question now is, who wants Anakin dead?" Minga asked as she gazed where Padme was fast asleep at Anakin's side. she was emotionally exhausted and needed this rest. Minga and Obi-Wan knew that once Anakin woke up, she would be up as well. "I'm going to work on the antidote, monoter him form me," she said going to her lab.

Obi-Wan rubbed his face with his hands and watched Anakin closely. "Oh Anakin, I hope you realize what a dangerous game you're playing," he said.

"Young Skywalker, how is he?"

Obi-Wan turned around quickly and saw Master Yoda walk into the room. "You sensed it didn't you" he asked.

Master Yoda nodded. "Sensed Young Skywalker's trouble I did," he said as he sat down in a chair. "how did this happen?" he asked.

"Where do you want me to begin?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Where it started would be nice," Master Yoda said.

Obi-Wan sighed and told him about how Anakin wouldn't tell Padme about Vader and they argued. He told Master Yoda what had happened the night before. "This isn't the first time that it's happened. I should have known that someone was after Anakin due to what the thugs on Tatooine said," he said.

"Investigate this we must. Whoever wants Skywalker dead will not stop until he has reached his goal. Find this assasion, you must. Only then can you find the otjher pieces," Master Yoda said.

Before Anakin could get up a figure emerged from the flames. Vader came after him with the hood of his black cloak pulled over his face while the rest bellowed out behind him as he walked. Anakin grabbed his lightsaber and stood up. Vader's crimson blade ignited within moments. Anakin ignited his sapphire blade preparing himself for battle.

"You will not win jedi. I am more powerful than you can imagine," Vader said.

Anakin smirked. "I don't know, I can imagine quite a bit," he said using Han Solo's words from his time in the future.

"You're a fool," Vader said advancing on him.

Finally he was close enough for Anakin to make the first strike and he did, at Vader's arm. Vader blocked him and pushed Anakin back.

"You will not win Vader," Anakin said.

"You have no idea of the power the dark side has to offer," Vader said advancing on him again.

Anakin forced Vader back into the Conference Room where the quarters were much closer. Sparks flew everywhere. Vader jumped onto the conference table. Anakin slid across the table, knocking him over. Anakin grabbed his lightsaber as he fell. Anakin then used the Force to summon his own dropped lightsaber. Vader did the same. The battle intensified Anakin and Vader locked sabers again. Anakin put out his hand to use the Force to push Vader away. Vader put out his hand to block Anakin. Both combatants were blasted backwards onto the control panels. They regained their footing and their battle continued. Vader kicked Anakin away. Anakin regained his footing and they battled around the room, eventually the door to the exterior was knocked open. They continued battling out onto the balcony. Vader forced Anakin down a narrow balcony outside the Control Room. He ripped objects off the wall and threw them at Anakin as he pushed him further and further along the walkway. The balcony ended, and Anakin found himself trapped. He saw the satisfied smirk on Vader's face. Vader believed that he had him, well Anakin still had a few tricks up his sleeve. he looked over the balcony and into a river of lava. He cut apiece of the balcony railing off, along with a control panel. Alarms sounded around them, and a protective ray shield around the superstructure disappeared. It tumbled into the molten abyss, disappearing in a puff of smoke. A small pipe connected the Control Center to the Main Collection Plant. Anakin knew that if he were to win this fight he would have no choice but to tightrope-walk out across the lava river while fighting him. He knew that he could do this as he made his way across the river. Vader following Anakin, jumped down onto the flexing pipe, landed, and resumed the fighting. Anakin and Vader worked their way across the small pipe, fighting ferociously as they went. Anakin slipped, threw his lightsaber up in the air, grabbed on to the pipe, swung around, grabbed on to an upper pipe, retrieved his lightsaber, and landed back on the original pipe. He and Vader continued to fight across the pipe until they reached the Main Collection Plant. He and Vader battled on the top of the multi spired collection panels, jumping from one to the other. At the end of the collection cluster, a huge spray of lava covered the attachments that held up the collectors. The frame began to melt. It was raining lava. Both him and Vader ran for cover under the collection cluster. They continued to fight in the lava rain, darting from cover to attack, then quickly retreating to cover. Support for the entire structure began to fall away, and the collection cluster fell into the lava river. They continued their fight, climbing to the highest point on the tower as the rest began to melt away as it rode the swift current down the river. It bent toward the lava as they got out toward the end. Their fighting got fierce again. Vader grinned as they upped it a notch. Anakin knew that he had to win this. He continued to remain strong, never letting the sith know that this place was getting to him. He got to the end and was trapped once again. Again Vader smirked in satisfaction at this. The tower slowly started to sink under the lava. Anakin realized he is getting very close to the edge of the lava falls. He grabbed a rope and leaped from the collection arm. Vader followed. Anakin and Vader continued their fight hanging from cables as they swung past each other. From their cables, He and Vader both spotted something that caused them to stop fighting. The lava river ahead dropped off in a tremendous lava fall. Snapping and metal groans were heard as the main part of the collector started to break away and move toward the lava fall. Anakin looked around and saw a small floating platform making its way toward the tower. He did a double hack-flip and landed squarely on the floating platform. Vader immediately leaned to one side and moved away from the tower. He realized he was doomed if he stayed where he was as the entire tower headed for the falls. In the distance Vader saw some construction droids. Grinning he swung back to the tower, climbed up and made a running leap and miraculously landed on a worker droid. The droid was confused and chattered to his co-worker. The giant collector went over the lava flow and disappeared in the mist of sparks below. Anakin headed for the bank of the lava river, but Vader's droid was faster. Vader caught up with Anakin. He and Vader continued their lightsaber duel. They battled away, balancing on the tiny platform and puzzled droid. Vader, standing on the droid, approached Anakin on the work platform.

"This is your end, Skywalker," Vader said.

Anakin smirked at him. "You are gravely mistaken," he said and did a backwards flip onto the black river shore.

Not to be out done, Vader jumped to the platform that Anakin was standing on moments before catching up to where skywalker now stood. "You underestamate the power of the dark side," Vader said.

"You put too much faith in the dark side!" Anakin told him.

"So sure of yourself jedi!" Vader said and moved to jump over Anakin on the high ground where he was going to force the jedi into the lava river. He was unprepared for when Anakin proceeded in cutting off all of his limbs. Vader screamed as his body rolled to the edge of the lava river.

Anakin watched in grim satisfaction as the flames from the river caught onto Vader's cloathing setting him on fire.

Vader screamed in agony as he looked at Anakin with pure hatred in his eyes. "This isn't over! You haven't seen the last of me!" Vader screamed as the flames consumed him.

Anakin stood there watching as the flames took the sith prisonor. He stood there watching until Vader was no more than ash. Despite this, Anakin knew that he would come back someday, and when that happened, it would be with a vengance.

Minga had finished preparing the antidote and made quick work with injecting Anakin with it. Slowly, he began regaining his color. Minga pressed a hand against his forhead and felt his skin warming up. She turned to where Master Yoda and Obi-Wan sat watching Anakin closely. Padme was still at Anakin's side. It wouldn't be that long until Anakin did wake up, but even then, he would have to stay until the Liquentia oil was out of his system perminitly. She didn't care how much Anakin protested. He was staying under her care until she was satisfied with his recovery.


	26. Stuck In Bed

A/N: Short chapter I know. Okay I don't really know much about Siri. I haven't read anything where she is mentioned but what I read on Wookieepedia. I hope I do her justace.

I'm sorry not much info is in this chapter.

Charlie..

* * *

Anakin opened up his eyes and instantly closed them again. Too much light. He slowly blinked. Where was he? What happened? Slightly disoriented he turned his head to the side to see both Obi-Wan and Padme asleep. Padme was in the chair closest to him covered in his cloak.

"Awake you are?"

Anakin knew that voice. "Master Yoda?" he asked trying to sit up, but finding that he was too weak to do so. He heard the soft sound of beeping. He turned to the sound to see a heart monitor next to him. He looked down at himself to see that he was hooked up to the heart monitor.

"Know what happened you do?" Master Yoda asked.

Then Anakin remembered. He had been poisoned. He was never going back to the Zhora Room again. Somebody wanted him dead and he needed to find out who. Reaching over with his right arm, he unhooked the heart monitor and what ever other machines he was hooked up to and used the force as his only strength to sit up and throw the blankets off of himself. As soon as he put his bare feet on the cold floor Minga came out of her office and glared at him.

She planted her fists on her her hips with her feet spread apart giving him the 'look'. Many a time, Anakin thought that if looks could kill, Minga would be lethal. "Anakin Skywalker, you are not leaving this room!" she told him sternly.

Anakin was never one to back down. Not to Obi-Wan. Not to Minga, Not to Master Yoda. Not to Padme, not even Obi-Wan's secret love Siri Tachi who could be quite intimidating at times. No, Anakin Skywalker _never_ backed down. "I need to find out who's trying to kill me, Minga," he told her reaching for his boots, but an invisible hand snatched them out of his reach.

Anakin glared at Minga who held not only his boots but everything else _but_ his pants that he normally wore. "You're not going to stop me, Minga. You're no match for me," he told her.

"Sit down Young Skywalker!" Master Yoda ordered thumping his gimer stick. "Serious matter this is!"

Anakin turned to the grand master sharply. "Master, I must find who ever is trying to kill me!" he said.

"More important at the moment, your health is. Careful investigation this will take. In the position to do so, you are not," Master Yoda said sternly.

Anakin looked at the grand master incredulously. "Are you kidding me! Master Yoda someone is trying to kill me! How in siths name do you expect me_ not _to do anything about that!" he yelled.

"Control you anger Young Skywalker! Looked into this matter will be! Away from this, you must stay. That is my order. Obey it you will" Master Yoda snapped at him.

"Anakin, I just had flush liquentia oil out of your system as well as give you an antidote for it. I know that you are well aware of what liquentia oil can do to your internal organs. Until I am satisfied with your health, you will be staying here under my watchful eyes," Minga said.

Anakin sat down on the bed heavily. The reality finally hitting him like a ton of bricks. There was no telling what the liquentia oil could have done to him. There was no doubt in his mind that it had done _something_ to him and it would take some time to repair that damage.

Minga looked at Anakin knowing what was going through his brain right about now. "Of course. You weren't given enough to kill you, just to incapacitate you. Why we don't know yet," she told him.

"Whoever wants me dead wants to do it themself, they want to make sure I'm dead," Anakin said dreadfully.

"The question, who would like to see you dead, Young Skywalker?" Master Yoda asked.

Anakin shook his head. I don't think it's Sidious, I mean too much to him alive," Anakin said grimly.

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"Anakin, you're supposed to be resting, not working!" Obi-Wan said exasperated.

Anakin folded his arms across his chest as he sat up in bed. "If I don't do something, I'll finish the job that the liquentia oil didn't," he said stubbornly.

"Just do as he asks of you Obi-Wan. I'd much rather he stayed in that bed and if working on his lightsabers will keep him there, then so be it!" Minga said setting the food tray on Anakin's lap that was brought up by a droid.

Anakin looked down at the food and scrunched up his face in disgust. It was that brown glob that they tried to make him eat when he was fourteen. "I'm not eating this," he said pushing the tray away.

"Anakin, you need to eat," Minga chastised him.

"I'll eat when I can get some _real_ food," Anakin told her.

"I have chosen a specific diet for you, Anakin. Until we know the extent of the damage inflicted by the liquentia oil, There are certain foods that you cannot have," Minga told him moving the tray back into place.

"Fine, I'll starve!" Anakin said.

Minga gave him 'the look' . "You're eating this even if I have to force it down your throat," she told him.

"I'd like to see you try," Anakin told her.

Minga smirked at him. "Ever wondered why I'm not a knight?" she asked him.

Anakin shrugged. "You weren't chosen to become a padawan learner by a master so the council of reassignment assigned you to become a padawan healer," he said.

"No, Anakin. I chose to become a healer. I had seven jedi masters wanting to take me on as their padawan. But I knew that my powers were better used for healing. You could say that the force called on me to heal people," Minga told him.

Anakin looked at her skeptically. "Seven huh, you must be powerful," he commented dryly.

Minga smirked at him deciding to show him who was the boss around here. With a snap of her fingers, Anakin was bound by the force to a sitting position on the bed with his arms to his sides. He looked at her in shock. "Now lets see you try to escape from eating this...what did you call it...oh yeah, brown glob," she said taking a spoonful of the brown glop and proceeded to force it in Anakin's mouth.

Anakin twisted his face away from the spoon like a stubborn child until Minga forced him to stay still as she forced the spoonful of the brown glop into his mouth. It was all Anakin could do to keep himself from spitting the glop out into Minga's face as he glared daggers at her.

Minga took his jaw in her free hand and looked him in they eye, not intimidated in the least by his death glare. "Now swallow," she instructed sternly. When Anakin made no move to swallow, she poked him with her black painted nail making him wince before he obeyed.

Obi-Wan chuckled at Anakin's childish behavior. He may be the chosen one, hero without fear or whatever they decided to call him, but he was still that stubborn padawan and probably always will be. Obi-Wan caught the death glare that Anakin threw at him and chuckled some more. "Don't look at me like that Anakin," he said.

"Traitor," Anakin accused him.

"Don't worry Anakin. We'll get you some real food once you are completely healed," Obi-Wan said patting his shoulder. He was awarded once again by Anakin's famous death glare as he left to get the things that Anakin had requested.

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Anakin waited until Obi-Wan returned with his lightsabers and the supplies he would need. As Minga busied herself in her office, Anakin flipped through the holonet and stopped dead when his picture was plastered across the screen. What were they saying now? He groaned as he listened.

"It was only last night when the Zhora Room became the scene of a crime as the hero without fear, jedi knight Anakin Skywalker stopped in for drinks with the negotiator jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi. We regret to inform you that our hero was poisoned with an unknown poison and had to be carried out by Master Kenobi after disarming an unknown assassin. Neither Master Kenobi or Knight Skywalker has been seen since. Sources tell us that Knight Skywalker is currently fighting for his life. Let us hope that this isn't an unfitting end to the galaxy's hero"

"What sources!" Anakin yelled throwing a spoon at the screen. He hated it when the media decided to report on his every move, every aspect of his life. It's a good thing that he could keep some things to himself. And everyone wondered why he kept things to himself! They'd know if they had to suffer through this media garbage.

Minga came out as she heard Anakin shout. She looked over at the holonet and sighed knowing what had upset Anakin. "You shouldn't pay attention to that garbage," she told him changing the station.

Anakin crossed his arms frowning. "Now you and Obi-Wan wonder why I don't 'open up'," he said tartly.

"We're not the media, Anakin. We're family," Minga told him patiently.

"Is that what I am to you?" Anakin asked her, his mood changing.

Minga smiled. "You're the little brother I never had," she said ruffling his hair earning a death glare. "And Obi-Wan feels the same way, I'm sure," she added.

"That explains why the two of you insist on treating me like a child," Anakin grumbled. Minga continued to smile making Anakin look at her suspiciously. "What? Something amuses you, I demand to know what that is," he said.

"Anakin, what happened while you were out?" she asked him.

Anakin looked at her confused. "I was poisoned Minga, shouldn't you know that already?" he said.

Minga shook her head. "No, Anakin, I mean what happened while you were unconscious?" she asked.

Anakin thought about it. The dream. He remembered it. "It finally came to a close. The dream that has been plaguing my mind for months, it's over," he told her.

Minga sat down at the edge of the bed and took Anakin's flesh hand in hers. "Tell me everything you remember about that dream," she urged him.

Anakin was silent for a moment as he thought of the dream. He had already told her how it began. Now he needed to tell her how it ended. "I fought him. I fought Vader. I couldn't stop him from killing the younglings. I thought I had lost until I found myself on Mustafar. But in the end I won," Anakin told her trying to make sense of the dream.

If anything Minga's smile grew wider. "Oh Anakin! Don't you see what you've done!" she exclaimed.

"Done what? Minga it's just a dream," Anakin told her shaking his head.

Minga shook her head. "No, Anakin, it wasn't just a dream. You battled Darth Vader inside yourself! You've won the battle Anakin! You are now in complete control. I can sense it. You're the old Anakin Skywalker that we've thought was lost within this war. You're on your way to recovery," she told him and cupped his cheek. "Oh Anakin, You've done something that no one in all the records have been able to do. You truly are the chosen one," she said and smiled.

Anakin looked at her radiant face as her joy shone through. But deep inside, he knew that Vader wasn't completely gone. He'll be back and Anakin wondered if he'll be ready to fight him again when he _did_ decide to come back.

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Word soon broke out through the jedi temple that Anakin Skywalker was poisoned and nearly died. It was unheard of that one of the great jedi knights could fall in such a way. It was well noted through the jedi ranks that Anakin Skywalker was the chosen one of the jedi legend. Not only that, but he was the face of the jedi during this war. He was the hero without fear. He was a cunning warrior and skilled in not only the force but lethal with a lightsaber. It was inconceivable that such a jedi could die so underhandedly. The fact that he was still alive gave the others hope.

It was with this knowledge that Jedi Master Mace Windu, second only to Grand Master Yoda made his way through the temple, knowing that whatever this mystery surrounding Skywalker was, had something of importance enough for someone to want him dead. The very fact that no one knew how or who had been able to poison Skywalker troubled Master Windu. It was time that he got his answers.

Mace reached Master Yoda's quarters and hurried inside. "I assume that the rumors are true, Skywalker's life was in danger," Mace said interrupting the grand master's meditation.

Master Yoda looked over to him. "True, the rumors are," he said.

Mace narrowed his eyes. "Who would want Skywalker dead? Do you think it's Darth Sidious? Perhaps he has found out about what Skywalker is doing," he said.

Master Yoda shook his head. "Needs Young Skywalker, Lord Sidious still does," he said.

"Master Yoda, I can't help but feel that Skywalker is not being entirely truthful with us. I sense that he's hiding something," Mace said. He was hoping that he could gain some information from the grand master that could ease his suspicions. He felt that the grand master knew what Skywalker was hiding. When Master Yoda said nothing he continued. "How could he have known that Chancellor Palpatine is the sith lord we've been looking for? He seems to know more than he's letting on. I can also sense that you know as well. What isn't he telling the council? It's important enough to have you worried. I think that it is in the jedi's best interest if you shared what you know with the rest of the council," he said.

"Told me in confidence Young Skywalker has! Betray his confidence I will not. Helping him stop it I am," Master Yoda told him sternly making it clear that would be the end of it.

Mace wasn't ready to let it go. "Master Yoda, if this effects the jedi the council must know!" he said.

"Nothing that the council can do about this there is! A personal matter this is for Skywalker! His trust I will not betray!" Master Yoda said thumping his gimer stick.

Mace knew that he had gone too far. He knew that whatever this mystery is, he will know nothing of it from Master Yoda. "I apologize Master," Mace said bowing. He left the grand master's quarters deciding to go to the source of the mystery.

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Obi-Wan Kenobi had retrieved the items that Anakin had requested as well as a jug of bribb juice that Anakin was so fond of. He was on his way back to the medical bay when he was stopped by a familiar voice. One that he had tried to avoid on many occasions.

"Obi-Wan!"

Obi-Wan turned around to see Siri jog to catch up to him. Her blond hair pulled up in a tight braid. Memories flooded his memory, memories of the many times that the two of them felt their chemistry. He shifted the box he held containing both the items that Anakin had requested and the jug as she approached him. She smiled briefly at him.

"I hear your padawan has gotten himself into trouble yet again," she said. Never one to not get to the point she continued. "The council has assigned me to the job of finding who wants Anakin Skywalker dead. Since you are the only one who saw this assassion, I need your description of her," she told him.

Obi-Wan nodded. He expected as much. "I'll be more than happy to give it to you," he told her and shifted the box again. "I was on my way to see Anakin, it seems as though he needs something to occupy himself with so that he doesn't leave the medical bay. You know how restless he is, always on the move," he told her.

Siri nodded. "I could use his answers to some of my questions if I am to find this would be killer," she said. She like Obi-Wan ignored the tension that had developed beaten them over the years.

"Then we should be off," Obi-Wan said as they continued to walk to the medical bay in silence.

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When Master Windu arrived at the medical bay to see Skywalker he was greeted by the sound of laughter followed by the sight of Senator Amidala dressed for the senate sitting beside a bedridden Anakin Skywalker. Both were laughing about something. Mace instantly felt as though he was interrupting an intimate moment but he pressed on.

"Senator Amidala, I am surprised to see you here," Mace said offering the senator a bow.

Padme stood up then as Anakin sat there frozen but watchful. "Anakin is my friend Master Windu. When I heard of what had happened to him, I felt that I had to come see how he was doing," she said.

"Understandable Senator," Mace said seeing the guarded look that Skywalker had. He felt Skywalker's mental shields go up. What was he hiding and what did it have to do with Senator Amidala? "Anakin, I was hoping that I could have a word with you concerning this new turn in events," he said addressing Skywalker.

"If you are asking if I know who is trying to kill me, I can tell you that I have no clue. If you are asking me if this ties in with what we already know, I don't know, perhaps, but perhaps not," Anakin said.

Mace could sense that Skywalker was telling the truth but before he could ask anymore questions, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Siri Tachi walked in. Master Kenobi was carrying a box which he set down on a table next to Anakin's bed.

"Alright, I got you what you asked for, now you promise to stay in this bed and don't give Minga a hard time," Obi-Wan said.

"You know that I don't make promises that I can't keep Obi-Wan," Anakin said.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said stressing his name. "We've been over this already," he added.

Anakin smirked. "I know. I'll be good, I promise," he said.

"Anakin, can you think of anyone who would want you dead?" Siri asked.

Anakin shook his head. "Not a clue. It could be anyone," he told her.

"I was just informing Skywalker that this is a very serious matter that should not be taken lightly," Mace said.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at Mace. "I am very well aware of how serious this is," he said.

"I'm sure. The council will be monitoring your recovery. We want you ready for whatever comes up next from this sith lord," Mace said.

"Don't worry, Master, I will be," Anakin told him.

"Let your recovery be smooth," Mace said before leaving.

Anakin watched him leave knowing full well that Mace Windu was highly suspicious about what is going on around him. It was only a matter of time before he figured everything out. But he couldn't discuss the matter right now with Siri in the room so he turned to her. "What exactly are you doing here Siri, I sense that it's not to see how I'm doing?" he asked.

Siri got a determined look on her face. "Actually there is. The council has assigned me to investigate this attempt on your life," she said.

Obi-Wan interrupted her, "That is attempts, this is the second time Anakin was attacked," he told her.

Siri raised an eyebrow at that. "_Really_? Well this _is_ serious," she said.

Padme looked from the three jedi and sensed that her time with Anakin was up. Standing up she addressed the jedi. "I can see that you have pressing matters to discuss. I leave you to your duties," she said. Before she left she bent down to kiss Anakin's cheek. "I hope you have a successful recovery Anakin," she said and left.

Siri watched her go sensing that there was more to her being here than she let on. Keeping her suspicions to herself, she turned back to Anakin. "Do you remember anything of the night you were poisoned that could prove significant to this case?" she asked.

Anakin shook his head. "Nothing really stands out. I'm sorry but I can't give you any more information than I already have given," he told her.

Siri knew that there was more than that. "There is something you aren't telling me," she said flatly.

Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "Anakin, the council gave Siri this job, I think that we should tell her about our current project," he said.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at him. "I can't risk anyone else knowing about that. The entire future depends on my plan working Obi-Wan. The more people know, the more Sidious will find out and then we're all screwed," he said.

Siri's eyes widened. "You can't possibly be saying that you think the sith are involved!" she snapped.

"Anakin, if we are to find out who it is that wants you dead, she must know. This turn in events is linked to the sith, I can sense it. I know you can sense it too," Obi-Wan said ignoring Siri.

Anakin thought about it for a minute before nodding to Obi-Wan. "You tell her then, just don't tell her _everything_, just what she needs to know," he finally said.

Siri looked from one to another. Clearly there was a lot that she should know. But she wasn't that close to Anakin Skywalker. Force she wasn't even as close to Obi-Wan as she used to be. Ever since they decided to focus on their duties and put being jedi first, everything has been strained between them. she didn't expect Obi-Wan to tell her everything she felt that she should know. Which added even more to her job.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Well if we are to find out the truth, then I think Siri and I should leave you in Minga's hands for now. Now rest Anakin," he said He turned to Siri. "We should probably talk in my quarters," he said.


	27. Moving Ahead

A/N: Yet another chapter! Well more goes on in here. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Charlie

* * *

He stood looking down at the rivers of Mustafar. He knew the the separatists leaders were being moved here very soon. He was here to make sure that everything was set up properly. If he had it his way he would already have had Skywalker here so that he could be rid of him for good. Many plots were stopped just by that jedi's persistence and stubborn pride. The media had reported that Skywalker was fighting for his life. If they only knew the half of it. One way or another, he will have Skywalker's head on a platter. Skywalker can't outrun him for long.

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Obi-Wan held the door open for Siri where they would talk in the privacy of his quarters. Once inside, he opened up his filing system and brought out his copies of Anakin's findings. He then pulled out a holoprojector.

Siri made herself comfortable on the couch and crossed her legs moving her foot up and down with her arms crossed waiting for Obi-Wan to get to it.

"Anakin found this in Chancellor Palpatine's apartment," Obi-Wan told her.

Siri raised an eyebrow at him. "And what exactly was he doing there? You really should put a leash around him more often," she said.

"I don't think that would go over too well with Anakin," Obi-Wan said smiling to himself at the image of Anakin being held in place by a leash. He shook his head. "Anakin sensed that the chancellor was hiding something and became suspicious. So he did some investigating and found out that Chancellor Palpatine is the sith lord we've all been looking for," he explained, making sure to keep to the story that he and Anakin had devised.

Siri looked at him with a mixture of shock, disbelieving and suspicion. "Is he sure? Because if he is wrong then things could go down hill for us all," she said.

"The council has deemed it to be true in light of what Anakin had brought to them. The only reason that I am showing you this is because I believe that the sith are involved in your investigation. After all the sith are the ones behind this war," he told her.

"Are you telling me that the chancellor is behind the war?" Siri asked skeptically.

"You won't be so quick to not believe what I'm telling you after you see what Chancellor Palpatine is planning," Obi-Wan told her feeding a datadisc into the holoprojector.

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Senator Bail Organa walked out of the senatorial building only to have a heavily cloaked person bump into him almost knocking him down. Whoever it was steadied him and he briefly got a look of a blue female face and headtails under the heavy hood.

"Easy there Senator. How foolish of me, I wasn't watching where I was going, Forgive me," she said and then leaned in closer to him as she steadied him on his feet. He felt something drop into his pocket. "A message for you Senator," she whispered in his ear.

Bail quickly looked down catching the hilt of a lightsaber within the folds of her cloak before meeting her hazel eyes. "It's quite alright, Milady," he said as she let him go and he regained his footing. Before another thing was said she disappeared in the crowd. He quickly hurried to his speeder, ready to get to his apartment which was on the other side of 500 Republica. Only in his own apartment could he see what the message from the jedi said. He made quick work of getting to his apartment, landing on his personal landing platform. He walked into his apartment and quickly dismissed the staff droids, going straight to his office.

Being in the position that he was in opposing some of the chancellors decisions, he had his office and apartment swept for bugs daily. He knew that the chancellor wanted to watch him carefully which made his job a lot more difficult knowing what he knew now. Feeling that he was safely alone, he pulled out the datadisc that was slipped into his pocket and fed it into his computer. On the screen was a letter.

Senator Organa,

I come to you because I feel that I can trust you with a job that I need done. I have it on good authority that the Republican Clone Army is programed to follow an order from Chancellor Palpatine called Order 66. This order is one that will make the clone army turn on the jedi making them slaughter us all. It will happen whether or not the chancellor is alive or dead. We have less than two years before this order is to take place. What I need for you to do is to help create a new army under the chancellor's nose, one that could take out the clones. I know that this is a big project, but I also know that you are the man for the job. I ask of you Senator, help the jedi survive this war. If we don't survive then the sith win. I cannot believe that you would want that to happen.

May the force be with you,

Ani Sky

Bail looked at the message wondering who Ani Sky was. But why would he or she be asking him to create an army? Alderaan was a peaceful planet. They had no interest in war. But this message was a desperate plea for help from the jedi. He knew that he had to talk with the delegation about this. For the time being, he put the data disc away in his safe tucked in with some family data discs.

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It had been a week since Anakin was poisoned and finally the full extent of damage to his system brought on by the liquentia oil had been identified. His throat had escaped the damage but his stomach hadn't. Thankfully whatever Minga had given him the night he was poisoned stopped it's spread into his intestines. Anakin thanked the force that that was it. Of course now Minga had to perform surgery to fix his stomach, but that could be done in a day and even then the recovery would be speedy. It would only take two or three days for things to be back to normal and until then, Anakin was stuck with eating the brown glop. That is until Master Yoda decided on bringing him rootleaf stew.

Master Yoda came by regularly keeping Anakin's mind busy with certain exercises and discussions on the plan of action concerning Darth Sidious. Minga was grateful for Master Yoda, because without him, she would have never gotten Anakin to stay in bed as long as he had.

Minga had the medical droids including the two that Anakin had built years ago preparing the surgical room for Anakin's surgery. The two droids he had built, Three-Why-Tee and Tee-Why-Seven were distraught over having to perform surgery on their maker but took to the task very seriously as was expected. It wouldn't take long for the surgical room to be ready and until one of the droids informed her otherwise, she would be preparing Anakin for the surgery.

After seeing that things were underway, she walked into Anakin's room where Padme, Obi-Wan and Master Yoda sat waiting with Anakin. "I really don't see what you all have to be worried about, this surgery is very routine," she said.

"I know that, but try telling them," Anakin grumbled. He was well ready for this medical stay to be over. The sooner he had the surgery, the better.

"Anakin," Padme said placing a hand on his arm. "We're all here to make sure that things turn out well. Even if the surgery is routine, there is a chance that something else could be found," she told him.

"Nothing else will be found, Padme. I can assure you," Anakin said.

"I'd like to be here to see to that myself Ani," Padme told him.

Anakin sighed. "Alright, if it will ease your worries, I have no objections," he said.

Master Yoda said nothing as he merely watched Anakin interact with his wife. He had been doing nothing else in the past week when Senator Amidala visited. He now saw what Qui-Gon had spoken of. Anakin seemed more at peace around Padme Amidala than he was any other time. His force signature was brighter and she had a way to make him see reason that his stubborn mind would not allow him to see otherwise. "How soon, this operation will be?" he asked.

"The room should be ready soon. From there the surgery should take three hours at least, depending on the extent of the damage," Minga answered.

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Siri, disguised as an assassin , walked into the club which was a part of the lower levels of Coruscant. No jedi would be caught dead in here. She kept her lightsaber hidden somewhere in her costume and carried a blaster. The tight black leather outfit she wore left little to the imagination and her healed boots would double as weapons should she need them. She covered her face with the veil that was attached to her helmet shielding her face, making her eyes the only thing visible. Her normal green eyes were changed to brown with the help of contacts.

The club was crawling with low life. All species from every planet of the galaxy could be found here. The room was filled with smoke and the lights were very low. In the middle of the room six dancing girls of various species danced for lustful males. Most if not all were drunk. Bounty hunters crowded the club searching for the occasional assassin. Siri was mostly disgusted with such a place, but she knew that this was the place to start in order to find out who wanted Anakin Skywalker dead. She walked up to the bar and ordered a drink making sure to test it when the bartender handed her a glass filled with a bright orange liquid. She knew that she didn't want to suffer Skywalker's fate by not testing her drink. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a green reptilian looking human eying her from across the room. Perhaps she would get her first answers tonight.

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Chancellor Palpatine drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. The bounty hunter Dirthmar had proved to be extremely hard to find. It was highly unfortunate that Jango Fett had died at the battle of Geonosis. He could use fett's help in finding this other bounty hunter. Maybe getting rid of that young assassin so soon was a bad idea. But she was expendable. She had to be made an example of. Should any of them get any ideas in their heads. When he has his empire in place, he would employ his own assassins for his own disposal. They would all work for him. But he can't bring in the new order until he had Skywalker. Hopefully the sith inside him would take control. The signs were all there. Soon. He'll have Skywalker under his leash. Soon. A powerful sith Anakin Skywalker will be. Everything will fall into place perfectly. That is if Skywalker can stay alive long enough to be turned. That in itself was the challenge facing him now. Making a decision, he commed the jedi temple and was greeted by Jedi Master Mace Windu.

"Chancellor Palpatine, what can I do for you?" Master Windu asked.

There was something in the jedi master's expression that wasn't there before making Palpatine frown for a moment. "Master Windu, I was wondering how Knight Skywalker was doing. When I heard about what happened to him, I must admit that I have been worried. Especially since I haven't heard from him in weeks," he said letting the concern drip through his voice. He really should get some sort of acting award.

"Knight Skywalker is doing just fine, Chancellor. They are just now prepping him for surgery, he should make a full recovery by tomorrow," Master Windu said.

Palpatine smiled. "That is good. Be sure to give him my best regards. And do tell him that I wish to see for myself that he is doing fine. I'm afraid that I won't stop worrying until I see him fully functional again with my own eyes," he said letting his voice sound relieved to hear the news.

"I'll be sure to give him your message myself, Chancellor," Master Windu said ending the transmission.

Palpatine frowned. Something was different. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what. Still frowning, he reached over and pressed a button. "Cancel all of my appointments for the day," he said to his secretary.

"But, Chancellor, you have a meeting with the senate today," his secretary reminded him.

Palpatine inwardly cursed. "Fine, cancel everything but that," he conceded. When he becomes emperor, he would be able to cancel the senate altogether.

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Minga brought Anakin into the operating room and made him lay down on the operating table. "I know how you hate being hooked up to machines Anakin, but this is a necessary," she said hooking him up to an oxygen machine.

Anakin only nodded, anxious to get this over with. Using the exorcises that Master Yoda had him working on, he managed to lay still and patiently. Gently he felt something poke him in the shoulder and instantly he began to feel drowsy. He knew that when he opened his eyes up next, everything will be back in order.

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Padme sat in the surgical rooms observation deck with Obi-Wan and Master Yoda and watched as Anakin's surgery was being performed. She leaned forward in her seat with her elbow rested on her knee and rested her chin on her fist. She watched as Anakin was put under the anesthesia. The droids that assisted Minga took great care of Anakin as though he was the most precious being.

"Anakin built those droids," Obi-Wan told her.

Padme turned to look at him briefly. He sat beside her equally worried. He too sat leaned forward as he rubbed his beard. "How many did he make during the ten years we were apart?" she asked.

"He had a droid built every week and that was in between his training and classes. Not to mention his pranks and kidnapping younglings to play with them when they were either supposed to be sleeping or meditating,," Obi-Wan told her still perplexed on how Anakin could have had so many droids built. "This temple is filled with the droids that he had built."

Padme smiled. The image of Anakin playing with the younglings forming in her mind. A conversation from months before came to her mind. Anakin wanted children. Could he had wanted children for years? There was no doubt in her mind that Anakin would be a good father. But with the war and everything that was happening now, could it even be possible? Besides, Anakin never brought the subject of children up but once catching her completely off guard especially with his change in attitude. Ever practical, she had put him off the subject and he didn't push it any further. He hadn't even brought the subject up since. She brought her attention back to what was going on in the surgery room.

"Deep is your bond with Young Skywalker," Master Yoda said gaining Padme's attention.

"I love him Master Yoda and as crazy as it sounds, he had always loved me since he was a boy. It is as if we are supposed to be together," she told him.

Master Yoda nodded. "For a week have I observed your bond. Peace you bring to Young Skywalker, something he had failed to be at for a long time. The best of him, you bring out. Approve of your union I do," he said.

Padme smiled finally hearing the grand master's blessing. She knew that Anakin would be grateful to hear of it. To have Master Yoda's approval means a great deal. Even if they were found out, Anakin had less of a chance of being kicked out of the order. "Thank you Master Yoda," she said.

"Your secret I will keep for now. A secret it will no longer be with the birth of your first child," he told her.

"Master Yoda, would that be possible?" she asked.

"Foreseen the future Young Skywalker has, children you will be blessed with," Master Yoda told her. making sure to keep the exact future that Anakin had seen from her. He had planned to not let that future come to pass. Which is why he was helping Anakin now.

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Captain Maxwell Hastings walked into the corners lab hoping that the young woman they had found dead a week earlier would be identified by now as well as the cause of her death. When he walked into the cold refrigerated room, he was greeted by the coroner droid which hovered over the dead body which lay on a cold slab. Her clothing and personal artifacts were currently being looked over. Maxwell looked down at the woman. She was human and had a sort of beauty about her. She couldn't have been no more than twenty years old. Her pale blond hair had been pulled out of the coil that it had been in. She was pale as a sheet. Whatever had happened to this poor girl was being carefully looked over. He swore to himself that he would find this young girl's killer and bring him to justice.

He looked up at the droid then. "Cause of death?" he demanded.

"This girl was electrocuted to death sir. Energy had been shot through her body at an alarming rate. It is doubtful that it was an accident, judging from the frozen look of terror on her face, her last vision was that of her assailant," The droid told him.

Maxwell felt sickened. What kind of monster would do this to this young girl? In his thirty years of service to Coruscant's security, he had seen nothing like this before. It alarmed him to no end. Wasn't it enough that the galaxy was at war? Did monsters just start coming out of the woodwork because of this war? Whoever had done this to the poor girl would be put to death. Maxwell was determined to make it happen.


	28. They Turn on Us

A/N: Well here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy it, because for a while I was unsure how I was going to word what happens in this chapter and what else to put in here. I knew where I wanted to go, it was getting there that was difficult. In the end I'm happy with it. Toodle!

Charlie

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Siri watched as the green reptilian human slunk his way over to her. The females in the club turned their heads to stare longingly at him as he passed them by. Despite her disgust with the place and him for being a regular patron here, Siri felt her blood begin to race as he drew near her. Before her jedi senses kicked in she herself felt drawn to him. Awareness slowly came to her as she realized that he was falleen. She remembered everything she had learned about the falleen species. The Falleen were an exotic, cold-blooded reptilian species known to be as long lived as hutts with life spans averaging 250 years. The Falleen naturally exuded pheromones which made them all but irresistible to the opposite sex. Siri knew that she had to be careful around this one. She watched drawn as he came closer to her. As he came closer she made out his sleek symmetry features, his dark green skin pagination and black hair which gave him his exotic looks. He wore tight black leather which clung to his sculpted body like a second skin. On his hips, rested his array of weapons giving him the mark of a bounty hunter. Siri watched him transfixed as he approached her.

"I haven't seen you around here before," he said once he was standing in front of her. "Fresh meat never last long here," he told her. His voice was silky smooth.

Siri briefly wondered why such a creature would be caught dead in this place as his pheromones clouded her senses. Her eyes roamed over him taking everything in. When her eyes reached his face once again she found him smiling a satisfying smile.

"Like what you see?" he asked her smoothly knowing the answer already.

Siri briefly remembered that falleen valued discipline and control, particularly self-control. They tended to shun public displays of emotion, and were very patient. She could do this. She knew that if she were to get her answers she needed to be on the bounty hunters good side. She smirked. "Not particularly," she said smoothly.

The Falleen showed no reaction at this as was expected. "What is your business here?" he asked her.

"I'm looking for a job," Siri told him.

"And what kind of job would that be?" he asked her silkily.

Siri carefully looked him over. The falleen were a difficult species to read due to their self control and hard discipline. They showed no emotion. It was hard to read whether this one would be her lead. She chose her words carefully. "Word around the streets says that a certain jedi knight has a bounty on his head. I'm interested in anything that can get me close enough to the jedi. If you're not the one I'm looking for then you can just leave now," she said smoothly and coolly.

The falleen smiled then surprising Siri. "Well, you're in luck. I just happen to be looking for a new assassin since the one I had employed failed," he said silkily.

Siri raised an eyebrow at him. "And what did you do with her, or him?" she asked.

"I didn't do anything with her. She just disappeared, I assume the jedi captured her. It's a shame," the falleen told her betraying no emotion whatsoever.

Siri took that piece of information in. The assassin that had poisoned Anakin just disappeared. There was something more to that. Something just didn't sit right with her about that. "So I assume that you're in charge of this little operation concerning the jedi," she said taking a sip of her drink.

The falleen leaned in closer to her and she got a huge wave of his pheromones clouding her again. "That's right. You said you were interested, maybe we should go over the details," he said.

Her mind numbly registered that this would be how she would find Anakin's would be killer through the fog of the pheromones.

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Anakin stood on the grassy hill and listened to the soft humming coming from the valley below. He was on Naboo in the lake country. He could hear the rush of the waterfalls. Feeling drawn to the humming voice, he began climbing down the hill where he met the sight of a woman dressed in a purple dress, a straw hat protected her face from the bright sun even if she didn't need it. She sat down in the grass picking wildflowers. He felt as if he knew this woman, he should know her. He knelt down in front of her and she lifted her head up to look at him with a smile.

"Mom," Anakin said. She was here on Naboo. He had dreamed of bringing her here.

"Oh Ani, have you ever seen so much water," Shmi said looking at the waterfalls in wonder.

Anakin smiled. "It's magnificent isn't it. I love it here Mom. Naboo is like a place out of a dream," he told her smiling at her radiant face. She was happy to be here just as he had visioned her to be.

"It's so beautiful here Ani. I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be in this kind of place," She said and smiled at him.

"You're beautiful, Mom. I've never seen you so happy, you're glowing," he told her.

Shmi laughed softly. Anakin loved her laugh. She cupped his cheek. "You've always been so kind Ani. Never loose that. Don't let the war harden you. Don't let the darkness win. You have so many obstacles Ani, don't let them get in the way of your true destiny," she told him softly.

Anakin covered her hand with his own holding it in place. "I won't Mom, I promise you," he told her kissing her hand.

"You're meant for greatness Ani. You're meant to help the galaxy. I believe in you," Shmi told her son. Anakin didn't know what to say to that. He closed his eyes briefly as Shmi caressed his cheek. "My handsome son, I love you so much," she told him.

Anakin snapped his eyes open as he felt her disappear. He stood up suddenly looking around for her only to find that he was alone. That's when he heard it, laughter, childish laughter. He heard it before he saw it. Two children ran through the grass. A blond haired boy and a brown haired girl in pigtails. They were chasing each other until they spotted him.

"Daddy!" The girl cried and the two children ran to him. On instinct he dropped to one knee and the two children ran into his arms. His children. Luke and Leia. Anakin kissed each child on the temple.

"Did you see the shaaks? Luke tried to ride one of them," Leia said.

Anakin raised an eyebrow at them. "Really? You can't ride the shaaks until you're older," he said looking at Luke pointedly.

"You do it," Luke protested.

"I'm older than you," Anakin told him.

"Well duh! You have to be, you're our father," Luke said stating the obvious.

Anakin grinned. "Yes, that's right. Which means you have to listen to me when I say that you can't ride the shaaks until you're older," he said.

Leia grabbed Anakin's right hand and smiled up at him. "Come see the waterfalls Daddy!" she urged. Luke took his other hand and the two children dragged him deeper into the valley to see the waterfalls. Anakin stood at the edge of a cliff with each twin on either side of him overlooking the waterfalls. It was a magnificent sight to behold. The water cascaded down the falls at an alarming speed crashing into the surface of the lakes below. Anakin gripped each small hand in his larger ones and smiled down at the twins. He looked back at the waterfalls before realizing that his hands were holding nothing. He looked to either side of himself to find Luke and Leia gone. He searched for them frantically wondering where they could have gotten to until he moved past the grassy plains of Naboo and stopped at a cliff. The sight that greeted him was not of Naboo. All he saw were mountains as far as they eye could see. Then he heard the sound of childish laughter.

"Luke! Leia!" Anakin called racing after the sound of childish giggles. He stopped as he entered streets that were nothing like Naboo. The childish laughter grew until two little girls around the age of five ran into his sight. Each little girl had dark brown hair pulled up in elaborate hairstyles and wore golden colored dresses. They were identical.

"Come and get me!" One of the little girls shouted laughing as she dashed out of sight.

"Shmi! Not so fast! Where are you going? Shmi! Mommy and Daddy are going to kill us if we stray too far!" The second little girl shouted.

That's when he heard it. The first little girl screamed. Anakin ran in the direction of the little girls screams and stopped dead when he saw the little girl being dragged roughly into an armored speeder. Anakin ignited his lightsaber and chased after the armored speeder.

"Shmi!" the other little girl shouted seeing her sister banging on the back window.

Anakin made a running leap onto the armored speeder and dug the blade of his lightsaber into the speeder in an attempted to save the girl from what appeared to be slavers but a stunning blast blasted him off of the speeder and into the wall of a building.

"Shmi!" The other little girl screamed.

Anakin struggled against the effects of the stun ray but it was a loosing battle. The last thing he heard was the little girls screaming cries for her sister.

Anakin opened his eyes to intense bright light and groaned. He momentarily forgot the visions that he had encountered while he was under the anesthesia. He listened to the sound of beeping beside him as his mind awoke fully.

"Oh good you're awake!" Minga said coming over to him. She checked his vitals and smiled at him. "The surgery was a success, everything is back in order," she told him.

Anakin nodded his understanding as sleep threatened to take over again. He struggled against it before he lost the battle.

Over a million clones marched into the temple armed taking down as many jedi as they could. The temple was on fire. A loud blast echoed off into the night as the temple exploded from within.

Anakin snapped his eyes open sharply sucking in a deep breath as his torso lifted out of the bed. The beeping on the heart monitor began to beep rapidly. Minga rushed about to steady him. The sound of the explosions echoed in Anakin's head, the thousands of screams following the sound of blasters being fired rang through his head. He could feel the lives being snuffed out. He could feel the explosions vibrating off of him. Finally it stopped. Anakin breathed in deeply as he looked around the medical bay. It was different than before. There wasn't a sith in sight in that vision. He ripped off the tubes connecting him to the machines and stood up.

Minga pressed her hands against his chest trying to force him back down. "Anakin! you just got out of surgery!" she reminded him.

"I have to stop it!" Anakin told her shoving her away from him.

"Stop what Anakin?! What did you see?!" Minga asked him.

Anakin looked around the medical bay still breathing hard from the vision before he realized that there was still time. They still had time. "The clones, they'll turn on us any way. Even if I stop him, they'll still turn on us," he said. He had guessed that the clone army would turn on them, that he wouldn't stop Palpatine before he branded the jedi enemies of the republic. But now, he knew. The clones were designed to turn on the jedi and wipe them all out. He needed to inform the council. No, he couldn't do that yet. He needed proof. But how he was going to get that proof was another story.

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Anakin finished putting on his clothes later that night. Minga had gone to sleep hours ago. He knew that this was his only chance to get out of the medical bay to do what he needed to do. Once he was completely dressed, he ransacked the supply closet taking what ever he would need to run the tests that he was about to run. Lastly he grabbed both of his lightsabers before leaving the medical bay completely unnoticed. He moved through the temple unnoticed by anyone else due to the fact that it was the dead of night. He paused as he felt another presence coming around the corner. Quickly he placed his back to the wall waiting for whoever it was to show themself.

Baxter Ling had just returned from a sticky mission with Master Jhon. They had spent the better part of the day briefing the council and the rest meditating. While Master Jhon went to bed, Baxter headed to the kitchens to get something to eat. He was halfway there when a black gloved hand covered his mouth and he was pulled backwards.. "Bax, it's me," Anakin hurriedly whispered to him. The hand released him and Baxter whirled on him.

"Sithspit Anakin! What are you doing roaming the halls at this hour? Did you sneak out of the medical bay again?!" Baxter snapped. Of course he knew of what happened to his friend.

Anakin ran a hand through his hair and grinned sheepishly remembering the many times he had snuck away from the medical bay during treatment claiming that he was all better now. But then the task at hand came back to his mind. He grabbed Baxter's sleeve and pulled him further into the shadows. "I need your help," he whispered.

Baxter groaned. "No, Anakin. Whatever you're planning_ this _time, I want no part of it!" he said automatically.

"Bax, you've got the wrong idea," Anakin said hurriedly. "I need you're help to break into the clone armies headquarters," he explained.

Baxter looked at him incredulously. "What! Anakin no! I'm about to take my trials, I can't afford to pull whatever you're planning to pull! You may have managed to avoid taking your trials before becoming a knight but the rest of us aren't so lucky!" he snapped.

"I have reason to believe that the clones will turn on us by decree of order sixty six which will declare the jedi enemies of the republic and wipe us out," Anakin told him bluntly.

Baxter opened his mouth to speak then closed it, opened again and closed it again.

"Quit that Baxter, you look like a fish," Anakin snapped.

"Are you fucking serious!" Baxter yelled finally.

"I have foreseen it," Anakin told him.

Baxter leaned back against the wall as it hit him that Anakin was telling the truth. He knew that Anakin had the ability to see pieces of the future. But the fact that the clones would betray them, that the republic would betray them, it was inconceivable. "The republic wouldn't betray us like this!" Baxter snapped.

"The republic doesn't know about order sixty six only it's leader knows," Anakin told him.

"What are you talking about?" Baxter demanded.

Anakin quickly looked around making sure that they were alone in the corridor. "You cannot let this slip, so far only myself and the high council know of this. If the Republic as we know it and the jedi are to survive then my plan has to work. If this gets out I fail and then we're all doomed," Anakin told him after shoving him harder against the wall with one hand on his shoulder and using the other to point a finger in his face.

"Dude, quit with the dramatics," Baxter told him.

"I'm serious Baxter!" Anakin snapped.

Baxter threw his hands up in defeat. "Okay okay, I won't tell anyone!" he conceded.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before nodded. "Chancellor Palpatine is the sith lord, Darth Sidious. This whole war was orchestrated by him, it's a part of his plan to become emperor and bringing the galaxy into a dictatorship under the rule of the sith," Anakin hurriedly whispered.

Baxter's eyes got bigger than a toydarian's. "But...but...but... Chancellor Palpatine is your friend! Why would a sith lord befriend a jedi?!" he yelled.

Anakin quickly covered Baxter's mouth and looked around before glaring at Baxter. "A sith lord wouldn't befriend a jedi. But a sith lord who just lost his apprentice would befriend the sun of sons," he whispered.

If it were possible Baxter's eyes grew bigger at the implications behind that one sentence. "You don't mean..." he said trailing off. The thought that Anakin would betray the jedi and become a sith lord troubled him greatly.

Anakin nodded. "Sidious wants me to become his apprentice," he confirmed. He let that sink in for Baxter who looked at him in fear. "I have no intentions of letting Sidious get what he wants," he assured his friend.

"This... this is big. But I don't understand, what do you need my help for?" Baxter asked completely overwhelmed.

Anakin's only answer was to grin.

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The shift change in the clone army headquarters occurred every eight hours. Only a select few knew about this. Most of the select few happened to be the jedi. Anakin calculated this precisely as he and Baxter Ling hid in the shadows in silence waiting for an unsuspecting clone to pass them by. Fortunately for them Soldier Damian walked by out of armor by himself. The clone soldier was unprepared for when a black gloved hand covered his mouth and another taking a hold of both his arms pulling him back.

"Now what?" Baxter hissed.

"We study him," Anakin told him injecting the clone, who was now fighting him, with a sleeping serum. The clone instantly went limp in his arms.

Baxter quickly looked around sensing others coming. "We need to get out of here soon," he said.

"I sense them too," Anakin said as the two jedi supported the now unconscious clone over both of their shoulders. Together they made their way out of the building as unnoticed as when they came in.

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"Where in siths name did he go?!" Obi-Wan yelled upon seeing the medical room empty save for Minga's presence. Anakin was no where in sight.

"That...that...that..._padawan_ of yours snuck out of the medical bay without being released again!" Minga snapped striding over to him. "I _had_ an alarm set up should he try to escape, but what does he do?! He shuts off the alarm!!!! Oh...when I get a hold of him, Anakin Skywalker will not know what hit him," she said through gritted teeth.

"He couldn't have gotten far, not while recovering from surgery," Obi-Wan said.

"Oh for Anakin Skywalker, anything is possible," Minga said pointing to her ransacked supply closet.

Obi-Wan groaned. She was absolutely correct. "Okay, first we need to search the temple, if he's not here, then I'll check Senator Amidala's," he said.

"We? What's this we business? You trained him, you find him!" Minga told him.

"Fine," Obi-Wan said leaving the medical bay in search for Anakin. 

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Baxter helped Anakin strap the clone to the research table for when he would wake up. He looked over at Anakin's hardened face briefly wondering where the old fun loving Anakin Skywalker went and when this serious driven jedi came from. "I think this should do it," he said finally tightening the last restraint.

"I think you're right," Anakin said and went over to the table where the tools he had acquired waited.

"You know, dissecting a member of the clone army for whatever purpose is frowned on. It's not exactly something that could further our careers," Baxter said.

"I know," Anakin said taking a swab and swiping the inside of the clones mouth for DNA and placing the swab back into a tube. He replaced it back on the table and grabbed an empty syringe, sticking it into the clone's upper arm for a blood sample.

"You can find this stuff in the clone army records, all the jedi generals have access to them," Baxter pointed out.

"What I'm looking for isn't in the records, I can tell you that right now," Anakin said placing the blood filled syringe on the table. He then motioned for an analysis droid to come foreword.

"You're the brains behind this operation, what exactly are we looking for?" Baxter asked.

"Proof," Anakin said simply handing the DNA swab and the blood filled syringe to the annalysis droid. "Run some tests on this, find out everything you can about what's in there," he ordered the droid.

"Right away sir," the droid said automatically taking the swab and syringe from Anakin's hand.

Anakin pushed the research table over to a scanner where Anakin would scan the clone's brain. He was determined to find the proof that he needed to inform the council about order sixty six.

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Padme sat with the rest of the delegation of 2000 in Bail Organa's luxury apartment for a special meeting that Senator Bail Organa had called. She along with the rest of the delegation were curious as to what had caused him to call this meeting until he injected a data disc into a computer with it's screen projected on the wall.

"I received this from the jedi quite recently as I was leaving the senate," Bail said indicating a message from the jedi. "It seems as though the jedi intelligence has figured out something rather disturbing about the republican clone army. Not only were the clones created to fight for us, but they were created to outnumber the jedi. According to this Ani Sky the jedi will be outnumbered if the clones turn on them. This jedi is formally requesting that a new army is created to stop the clones from turning on the jedi," he said.

"Why would the clones turn on the jedi?! It's preposterous!" Senator Minxon Jervik yelled.

Padme sat there reading the message knowing exactly who had sent it. Just what else did Ani know? What did he discover? And how? What happened to him during his search for General Grievous? How did he know about these things? Could he be putting his life on the line by digging for these answers? Around her several senators all voiced their opinion on the notion to create a new republican army. Finally she met Bail's eyes and she knew that he was considering it. Bail was an extreme supporter for the jedi. He believed in democracy as much as she did. He was deeply disturbed by the chancellor's hidden agenda, just as she was. She nodded to Bail silently giving him her support. Finally she stood up making the other senators quiet down.

"I believe the credibility to this message. After all unlike the rest of you, I know who sent the message. Once you also know, you won't be so quick to shoot it down," she said.

"Who is it from Senator?" Bail asked.

"The same jedi who informed us of Chancellor Palpatine's misdeeds. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. Ani Sky is only his name shortened," she explained.

At those simple words the Senators spoke up again, the credibility of the message confirmed, now the only decision to make was whether or not to start creating this army. It wouldn't be easy.

"If the survival of the jedi is on the line, then I say we create this army!" Senator Minxon Jervik said standing up. He was the first to support the creation of the army due to the fact that one of his brothers was a jedi master and he had a niece who was a jedi padawan.

Several other senators also stood up in support of the new army. "I never agreed with using clones to defend the republic in the first place!" one of them shouted.

Padme inwardly smiled as the vote went underway. So far so good. But her smile vanished at the thought of what Chancellor Palpatine would do once he found out about this new army.

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Obi-Wan searched the temple feeling out with the force for Anakin, choosing the lower levels first and working his way up. Finally while he was searching the jedi archives, he felt Anakin's force signature two floors below. Curious on why he hadn't felt it before while he was on_ that _level, he left the third level to head down to the below ground levels. He raced down the stairs, not bothering with the turbo lifts feeling that they took too long, and raced down to the level where he felt Anakin's force signature. He was relieved that Anakin hadn't left the temple. Once he was on the first below ground level he paused to take a breath before headed towards the left . He turned three different corners before stopping in front of the archives analysis room. What was Anakin doing in there? Preparing himself to lecture Anakin once again, he entered the analysis room finding it empty. Curious he pressed further knowing that Anakin was in here somewhere. That's when he looked into the view window and did a double take. _How_ in the blazes did Anakin get in _there_?! He was _not_ supposed to be in there! That part of the analysis room was sealed off!

He pressed the communicator button on the control panel. "Anakin Skywalker, you have better got a very good reason for infiltrating the analysis clean room!" he called. He heard Anakin let out a string of colorful curses in huttiese which Obi-Wan knew nothing of what he was saying, only that it wasn't polite. Then Baxter Ling jumped into his line of vision bowing to him.

"Master Kenobi, It was all Anakin's idea! He forced me to go along with it!" Baxter said.

"I'm not concerned with your involvement in whatever scheme Anakin is up to, Padawan Ling," Obi-Wan said dismissing the young apprentice who nodded. "Now you will tell me how you both managed to get in there," he ordered.

"Of course Master Kenobi," Baxter said and then explained how he and Anakin managed to get into the chamber.

Obi-Wan followed these directions and entered the chamber looking around specifically for Anakin. Which he found him or more specifically his boots underneath a scanning machine. But that was only the first thing that caught his attention, it was the human body on the research table. "What in the blazes are you doing?!" Obi-Wan demanded planting his fists on his hips with his feet apart.

"Finding proof!" Anakin hurriedly answered him as he reviewed the information that turned up on the screen.

Obi-Wan looked at him incredulously. "Proof for what?!" he demanded.

"They'll turn on us even if Palpatine dies before activating order sixty six. It's programed into their brains, I just need to find it," Anakin told him.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said slowly. He wasn't sure what he could say. Anakin had taken a radical turn in his quest to stop the future from happening. Kidnapping a clone soldier and infiltrating a temple archive clean room to dissect the clone's brain in order to find proof to something that may not be there. It just wasn't done this way. He doubted that the council would back him in _this_. Master Yoda had been taking great pains to keep the council from punishing Anakin for all of his underhanded ways of obtaining proof and information, not to mention both Obi-Wan and Master Yoda were putting themselves on the line to help Anakin in his quest _and_ keeping his marriage a secret. Anakin was taking things too far.

"I've seen it. The future is already changing. There wasn't a sith in command of the clones when they massacred the jedi in my latest vision," Anakin told him looking over his shoulder at him.

"Are you sure?" Obi-Wan asked sensing the truth in Anakin's words.

"Very," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan sighed. He knew that somehow in the foreseeable future he was going to regret his actions, but he pressed on anyway. "What do you need me to do?" he asked.

Anakin smiled at him knowing that he had Obi-Wan in his corner on this. "Help me find anything that could prove what I already know," he said. And together the three of them set to work on searching through the clone's DNA and brain for anything that could prove their theory.


	29. The Key is There Somewhere

A/N: Yet another chapter. I know that some of you are hoping for an answer or two, but I'm afraid that this chapter will only leave you with questions. Toodles!

Charlie

* * *

Chancellor Palpatine was somewhat outraged that a member of the clone army had went missing during the night. Something just didn't sit well with it. It was against the clones nature to just go missing. To disobey an order was out of the question. To think for your self was out of the question. Clones were designed to follow orders. To fight no matter what. This disappearance of Soldier Damian was disturbing. 

"Your Excellency, we have a security holo from hallway three-three-two-eight that looks rather suspicious," The security commander, Palpatine forgot what his name was, said.

"Very well, Play it. I'd like to see for myself the nature of this deflection," Palpatine said betraying nothing of what he was felling, but projecting the concern for security that he needed to keep up his little ruse.

"At once, your Excellency," The commander said and pressed a button on the holoprojector.

Palpatine sat back and watched as the clone that went missing passed by the camera and a black gloved hand came out of the shadows followed by the rest of what appeared to be a very dark cloaked figure and then another one as they wrestled with the clone. The first cloaked figure pulled out a syringe and stuck it in the clone's side making the clone go limp. The second cloaked figure quickly looked around and said something to the first one who nodded. the two cloaked figure then supported the limp clone's figure on their shoulders as they made their way out of the camera's eye.

the security commander shut off the holoprojector and turned to the Chancellor. "Your Excellency, What would you want my men to do?" he asked.

Palpatine thought about it for a minute before sitting up straight. "Nothing for the moment Commander. I will see to where Soldier Damian had got to, I already have an idea," he said.

The commander bowed to him. "As you wish Chancellor," he said before leaving.

Palpatine thought about what he had seen. Exactly why would two jedi abduct a member of the clone army? He was certain to get to the bottom of this.

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Anakin banged his fists on the computer. Nothing! Not a damned thing! "It's gotta be in here somewhere!" he yelled frustrated.

"Anakin, we ran all the tests! There is nothing in this clone that can prove your theory," Obi-Wan told him.

"Then we'll get another clone! Commander Cody would do nicely," Anakin said.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan yelled. "There is no proof to your vision, it's over," he told him.

"It's not over until I say it's over," Anakin said stubbornly.

"You're on the brink of madness! Come back to reality!" Obi-Wan told him.

"Ah, guys, I hate to break things up. Not because I'm not enjoying you two yelling at each other, because I personally find it quite humorous. But, we have company," Baxter pointed out.

Obi-Wan and Anakin looked in the direction that Baxter was pointing out and both cursed "sithspit!"

"Obi-Wan, go! I'll take the blame," Anakin hurriedly said.

"What?! No, I joined in this moment of lunacy, I must face the consequences of my actions. I knew that I was going to regret it anyway," Obi-Wan said.

"And risk your spot on the council, not as long as I can help it. Besides, I need two jedi masters on the council on my side not just one," Anakin said.

"Don't expect me to say this a lot, but, you're right," Obi-Wan said quickly finding a way out of the analysis room.

Anakin made himself busy both trying to cover his tracks and trying to figure out what went wrong. Baxter set about helping him. Both we in the middle of fixing things up when the two jedi masters came into the analysis room and saw them through the view screen.

"What in the blazes!" one of the jedi masters said.

"It looks like the Skywalker/Ling team is wrecking havoc again," the other said flatly.

"I thought that they had grown out of this!" the first master snapped. He then pressed the communicator button alerting both young jedi. "You two have a lot of explaining to do!" he called to them.

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Siri managed to get some sleep in the fleebag of a room that she was staying in for the time being. Meeting Dirthmar, the bounty hunter in charge of bringing Anakin Skywalker to the person who wants him dead was purely the will of the force. Of course Dirthmar disclosed very little about the job. She was to get Skywalker to incapacitate Skywalker, deliver him to Dirthmar would would bring Anakin to whoever hired him. Now finding out who wanted Anakin dead was another matter. Somehow she had to get Dirthmar to tell her who wanted Anakin dead.

Siri paced within the room trying to formulate a plan. Dirthmar was falleen, there was no way that he would tell her who was behind the murder attempts on Anakin Skywalker willingly. Force mind tricks only worked on the weak minded so that was out of the question. However long it took, Siri would find out who was after Skywalker.

A knock on her door interrupted her from her pacing. Taking a deep breath not knowing what was to come next, she opened the door to see Dirthmar standing there. She raised a perfectly arched brown eyebrow at him making sure to keep her mask of assassin on at all costs.

"I have come to offer you to join me for dinner," Dirthmar said silkily.

Siri regarded him for a moment before finally agreeing. "I am hungry," she said grabbing her weapons, making sure that she had them all, even her lightsaber.

Dirthmar noticed her hiding her lightsaber and took it from her grasp. "What's this?" he asked her.

"A trophy," she said simply, ignoring the amount of pheromones coming off of him. "From a previous job," she added taking the lightsaber out of his hands.

"You've killed a jedi before then," Dirthmar said betraying nothing, but secretly appraising this new assassin.

Siri inwardly smirked. She knew that she had Dirthmar's interest now. "It was just a job," she replied coldly hiding the lightsaber amongst her other weapons. "Besides, you said something about food," she reminded him.

"This way if you please," Dirthmar said indicating a hallway to the left.

As Siri passed by him in the close proximity of the doorway, she received a huge whiff of the pheromones coming off of him in waves. This certainly wasn't an easy job.

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"Serious business this is!" Master Yoda snapped pacing in front of a kneeling Anakin and Baxter. Baxter's master Lexus Jhon stood in the background with his arms folded over his chest. The rest of the council sat back giving the two stern looks. Obi-Wan remained silent throwing Anakin a mask of disappointment which Anakin knew was fake.

"Do you two realize what kind of spot you put the whole order in witch this fools scheme! The Chancellor came by questioning us about the clone's disappearance! You two were caught on the security holos!" Master Windu nearly shouted.

Anakin winced. But Baxter looked at him sharply. "I knew that I shouldn't have listened to you!!" Baxter snapped. ""I thought you had taken care of the security!"

"I _had_ everything taken care of. _Obviously_ they had a second security system that we didn't know about," Anakin said.

"What possessed you to kidnap and cut into a clone, you will explain," Master Yoda ordered poking Anakin in the side rather hard with his gimer stick.

Anakin winced. That was the second time that Master Yoda had done that to him. "I had a vision, Masters," Anakin said choosing his words closely.

Master Yoda narrowed his eyes at him looking at him hard. The other council members frowned, obviously not believing him. "A vision you say. What of this vision you speak of?" Master Yoda questioned him.

"The clones turn on us like in my first one, but this time there wasn't a sith in command," Anakin told them.

"And this is what led you to break into the clone army headquarters, kidnap a clone and dissect his brain?!" Master Windu demanded not buying the story in the least.

Anakin met Master Windu's eyes. "That's right," he said. "I knew that I need proof before I could bring the issue to you," he added.

Master Windu narrowed his eyes at him. "And what proof do you have to show us?" he demanded.

Baxter looked at Anakin wondering how he was going to wiggle his way out of _this_ one, _this_ time. Anakin looked back at him silently telling him that he was sorry before turning back to Master Windu. He bowed his head as he spoke his next words. "I found no proof, Master," he confessed. Around him he could hear the rest of the council yell and give their say before Master Yoda silenced them by tapping his gimer stick onto the marble floor.

"Clear it is that too much time on your hands you have to get you into such trouble," Master Yoda said. "A situation in the outer rim there is that needs delicate hands. Send you and your masters to handle this situation I am," he said.

"Master Yoda, my place is here on Coruscant! Chancellor Palpatine is the sith lord we've been looking for for twelve years now. I need to stop him before it's too late!" Anakin protested.

"Chasing fools leads you are here, Young Skywalker!" Master Yoda snapped and looked to the doors where Minga stood. "Cleared is he for active duty?" he asked the healer.

Anakin turned sharply at Minga giving her a stern look silently telling her to give him a reason to stay on Coruscant. But she gave him a cold look before replying to Master Yoda. "If Anakin Skywalker feels himself fully healed enough to pull a fool stunt as he did today, then surely he is healed enough for active duty. He knows perfectly well how to heal himself should he get hurt out there. I wash my hands clean of the situation, Master," she said.

Master Yoda nodded. "Very well then. tomorrow morning you both will leave for the outer rim. Master Kenobi and Master Jhon will have all the details for you both then. go you will now. Your audience here, no longer needed it is," he said dismissing Anakin and Baxter who both stood up.

Baxter knew when to accept that it was over, but Anakin refused to accept it. "Master Yoda, you must believe me! The clones are programed to destroy us whether Sidious lives or dies! It's there! I must find it!" Anakin protested.

"Dismissed Young Skywalker!" Master Yoda barked making the young knight shut up.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at the all twelve council members making sure that they knew that this was not over before bowing to Master Yoda. "Forgive me, Master," he said turning on his heal and leaving the room, but not before giving Minga the coldest look.

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Anakin left the temple after the council meeting and made his way through the city of Coruscant in his speeder. Letting his frustration out as he pulled death defying stunts at alarming speed through the cities traffic. Finally in midday, he stopped the speeder on the private landing pad to Padme's apartment. He stepped out of the speeder and onto the veranda. He climbed the stairs up into the apartment. Threepio met him as he made his way into the bedroom.

"Master Ani, it's so good to see you fully functional again!" Threepio said.

"Not now Threepio," Anakin said briskly walking past the droid closing the bedroom door behind him. He could hear Threepio's muffled "how rude" through the door. Anakin sat down heavily on the bed and ran his hands through his hair. He knew that something was there to be found, it was just too well concealed. It shouldn't surprise him. Palpatine was-is a master of manipulation. He hid his tracks extremely well. He rubbed his face roughly with his hands knowing that he needed to shave, that he hadn't shaved in over a week. growling in frustration, he leaned back until his back rested fully on the bed. The council refused to even consider what Anakin had told them. But that shouldn't surprise him either. They didn't trust him, they never have. In fact they had refused his training even after he had taken their tests! The only reason he _had_ been trained was because of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Their defiance and stubbornness had made sure that Anakin Skywalker _did_ become a jedi. Anakin remembered a conversation he had had with Luke about the jedi.

"The jedi order wasn't perfect, Luke. There was flaws, oh so many flaws. How else could a mighty and noble order that has stood strong for thousands of years fall as it did? Something just isn't right. It just doesn't sit well with me that two sith lords could destroy thousands. In the great force war, the jedi triumphed over the sith. No, something was wrong. The order was destroyed from within. It's the only explanation," Anakin said seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

"Ben told me that Vader was once a jedi before he turned to the dark side. He told me that Vader had betrayed and murdered you. Which means that you knew Vader before he turned. Can you think of anyone who Vader could have been?" Luke said.

Anakin shook his head. "All the jedi that I knew personally were of the purest of heart. There isn't a single one who could have so easily turned their back on the order as Vader did. I would know if one of my friends would turn to the dark side. It's not something that could be missed," he told him.

Anakin had promised Luke that he would stop it. He would keep the order together. He promised to stop Palpatine. He promised his son, he couldn't break that promise. Anakin closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. The images from when he was under the anesthesia came flooding back to him at full speed. He snapped his eyes open as the last part finished. the twin girls confused him. Who were they? The one who was kidnapped, she had his mothers name. He closed his eyes again letting the force flow through him. The force would give him the answers that he would need.

"Ani, sit up straight,"

"Sometimes, when everything you know is taken away from you, all you have left is your pride. Hold onto that Ani. guard it, protect it with your life. Because no matter what they do to you, they can't take that way from you."

"That isn't very civilized, Anakin. Behave yourself."

"Ani! Time for bed!...Anakin! I will not tell you again!"

"I love you Ani."

"Son, my place is here, my future is here."

"You can't stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting. Listen to your feelings; Ani, you know what's right."

"Ani, remember when you climbed the great dune in order to chase the Banthas away so they wouldn't be shot... Remember how you collapsed several times, exhausted thinking you couldn't do it? This is one of those times when you have to do something you don't think you can do. I know how strong you are, Ani. I know you can do this..."

"No matter where you are, my love will be with you. Now be brave, and don't look back... don't look back."

Single tears escaped from both of his eyes as he heard his mother's voice echoing in his head. He never got the chance of keeping his promise to her. Fate pulled a cruel joke when it decided to take her away. He needed his mother now more than ever. She always knew what to say. She could offer him guidance now. He needed her support. He couldn't but feel as though his mother was trying to tell him something. Something important. With that thought in mind, he drifted off into a restless sleep filled with visions a tortured little girl abducted into slavery, that little girl's name was Shmi.

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Padme had of course heard from Obi-Wan and learned about Anakin's little escapade that morning, as well as the fact that Anakin was being sent away on a mission while the council tried to figure a way out of the mess that Anakin had made. She had decided to demand what had gotten into her husbands head to make him do such a thing. But when she walked into the bedroom to find him sleeping halfway on the bed and his tear stained face, she decided to let it slide for now. She sat on the edge of the bed next to Anakin and wiped his face dry.

Anakin opened his eyes to look at her. "Hi," he said.

Padme smiled softly at him. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

Anakin sat up. "Nothing," he told her. "How was your day?" he asked.

Padme regarded him for a moment. Anakin never asked about her day. In fact they never talked about their jobs. But now both of their jobs had been brought together due to who Darth Sidious really is. "It was normal. A few bills were passed, that's all. Are you sure that every thing's okay?" she replied.

"Everything is fine," Anakin assured her.

"Really? Obi-Wan told me what happened today," she said.

"E chu ta!" Anakin cursed.

"Anakin," Padme scolded. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"No. There's nothing to talk about," he said standing up.

Padme looked at him wondering what was going through his mind at the moment. The situation with Palpatine worried her a great deal. Chancellor Palpatine managed to make them all fools. But it wasn't that which bothered her. It was what this was doing to Anakin. Chancellor Palpatine was Anakin's _friend_. Palpatine befriended Anakin as a child. Anakin had always gone on about what a good man the chancellor was. But now all of that was thrown in Anakin's face. Anakin wasn't behaving like himself anymore and that worried her. No, it scared her. His latest actions had been irrational and Padme didn't know what to do about that.

"I think that there is a lot that you need to talk about Ani. I'm worried about you. The situation with the Chancellor can't be easy for you. To find out that your friend and mentor is a sith lord, it can't be easy," Padme said at last.

"I don't have time to think or even talk about it. I need to stop him before it's too late," Anakin told her.


	30. To Rescue A Princess

A/N: I know I know, I'm late. But I'm home now so don't worry. I had to get used to being home again and all. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this chapter at first. Let me know if it is to your approval.

Charlie.

* * *

Anakin lay flat on his back in bed staring up at the ceiling when the time on the crono said 0500 hours. In another hour the sun would rise over Coruscant. Beside him Padme slept peacefully. With a quick glance at his wife, Anakin made to get out of bed, careful not to wake her. He used the city lights that shone through the blinds in slits as his only light as he got dressed. He had no idea where Master Yoda was sending him, but what ever this new mission was, he was going to get it over with as fast as possible. His priority was here on Coruscant and Master Yoda knew this. Yet he was forced to leave. With one last look at Padme's sleeping form, he left the apartment.

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Obi-Wan waited on the temple landing pad for Anakin to arrive. Beside his starfighter was Anakin's blue one. Lexus Jhon and his padawan Baxter Ling stood waiting on the landing pad. Everything was ready to go, the only thing that was holding the group back was Anakin's arrival.

"Is your padawan always late?" Lexus asked leaning closer to Obi-Wan.

"Anakin's not my padawan anymore, but to answer your question. No, he's normally on time. It's not like him to be late like this, obviously something is holding him up," Obi-Wan replied.

"Think he had to...well speak to someone?" Baxter spoke up raising an eyebrow at Obi-Wan briefly.

Obi-Wan caught Baxter's meaning and his alarm shot up. "No, Anakin isn't..." he said and looked out over the bright blue sky line towards the senatorial building knowing exactly what was holding Anakin up. Either Anakin was being foolish or he had something up his sleeve.

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"It worries me that the council doesn't have your health on the top of their minds over the war, Anakin," Chancellor Palpatine said.

Anakin kept his inner feelings towards the traitor closely guarded. He knew that with the Chancellor being a sith lord, he had the power to sense what was in his mind. He made sure to project false thoughts instead of the ones that he was truly thinking about. "The healer gave me a clean bill of health, Chancellor. I am only too eager to get this mission over and done with. Hopefully we can get everything under control," he said.

Chancellor Palpatine nodded. "Still, I believe that it is too soon for you to be going on a mission. You very nearly died, Anakin. You going on this mission so soon afterwards worries me. Your health is foremost on my mind," he said.

_I bet it is. _"My time is better serving the Republic than laying in bed, Chancellor," Anakin told him adamantly.

"Your loyalty to the Republic will be rewarded once this dreadful war is over, Anakin. Do be careful though, Son, I couldn't bare the thought of loosing you," Chancellor Palpatine told him placing a hand on Anakin's shoulder.

Anakin fought with himself over the need to shove the chancellor away. The spot where the chancellor's hand was on his shoulder burned him. "The only reward I look for is the Republic's victory in the war," he said.

"Of course. The Republic's victory would be a great reward for us all," Chancellor Palpatine said.

Anakin bowed to the chancellor. "I leave you now Chancellor. If I don't Obi-Wan would surly have my head," he said and forced a smile before leaving. He was grateful to be leaving this office.

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Obi-Wan checked the crono again and looked through the hanger for any sign of Anakin. If Baxter was right and Anakin had gone to see the chancellor, what could that mean? What was Anakin hoping to accomplish? Lexus Jhon had voiced his disdain for Anakin's lateness a few times and if Obi-Wan would be honest with himself, he was getting really bothered by it himself. Baxter came up to him then and Obi-Wan briefly looked at the dark haired young jedi. It seemed like only yesterday when Anakin and Baxter were just children getting into trouble together. Now they were grown and they still got into trouble.

"You know, it could be nothing," Baxter said nonchalantly. "I'm sure that we're worried about nothing," he added.

"Yes, let us hope for that," Obi-Wan old him.

"You're worried that something has happened? I know that it was not too long ago that he was poisoned," Lexus said.

Obi-Wan nodded. That was another thing that bothered him. Part of him had wished that the council hadn't given Anakin this mission right now. But it was necessary at the moment. Especially with what Anakin had pulled. The one thing that bothered Obi-Wan the most was what everything that he had learned and going to the future was doing to Anakin. It seemed as though fate just didn't like Anakin at the moment. Was this the burden of the chosen one? He turned as he heard running footsteps through the hanger and saw Anakin running into the hanger.

Anakin didn't stop until he was infront of Obi-Wan. "I'm sorry I'm late. I have no excuse," he said.

"We'll talk later," Obi-Wan said, "right now we need to leave."

Anakin nodded and hopped into his starfighter. "What are the coordinates?" he asked.

"Last known coordinates were around Corellia," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin raised an eyebrow at him. "Last known coordinates?" he asked slowly.

"That's right, we're looking for a ship. The princess of Corellia was kidnapped by the separatists in order to force Corellia to join them. We are going to rescue her," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin raised the other eyebrow, remebering the last time he had rescued a princess held captive by the enemy.

"_This is some rescue. When you came in here, didn't you have a plan for getting out?" Leia shouted._

"_We didn't think that far!" Anakin shouted._

_Leia grabbed Luke's gun and fired at a small grate in the wall next to Han, almost frying him._

"_What the hell are you doing?!" Han shouted._

"_Somebody has to save our skins. Into the garbage chute, fly boy," Leia shouted._

But this wasn't Leia that he would be rescuing. This was a whole different princess. Anakin didn't know what to expect from this one. One thing he was sure of was that this princess was nothing like Leia. There wouldn't be any other princess like Leia. Anakin pushed the thoughts of his children aside and nodded at Obi-Wan. "Well lets get this mission underway," he finally said.

"That is good idea," Lexus Jhon said motioning for Baxter to get into his starfighter.

In moments all four jedi were up in the air entering space and connecting with their respective hyperspace rings and they were gone from the planet of Coruscant.

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Owen Lars shifted his large duffel bags over his shoulder as he walked through the streets of Coruscant. Never before had he seen such a place. There wasn't a grain of sand is sight. The streets were filled to capacity and the air above him was filled with air speeders, air buses and air taxis. Around him tall buildings reached up into the clouds. It was a curious place. Owen felt completely out of place here. But he had a mission. He had some things to deliver to Anakin Skywalker. Things that had belonged to his mother. If it wasn't for his father's instructions to give Shmi's things to her son, Owen would be tending to the farm right now, instead of shivering on this unfamiliar planet getting lost. Several times he had tried to ask for directions to the jedi temple, but people either ignored him or told him point blank that the jedi temple is off limits to civilians. Finally Owen spotted a man in dark tealish colored clothing exiting a building with a woman in an elaborate purple dress and hair style. When Owen got a look at the woman's face, he instantly recognized her as the woman who was with Anakin when he came looking for his mother. Owen quickly jogged up to them.

"Padme! I am so glad to be seeing you!" Owen said as he approached the man and woman.

Both turned to him. The man gave Padme a questioning look. "Padme do you know this person?" he asked.

Padme quickly turned to the man. "Of course, This is Anakin Skywalker's step brother, Owen," she said and turned back to Owen. "Owen Lars, meet Senator Bail Organa," she said formally.

Owen nodded to the senator. "Pleased to meet you Senator," he said quickly and politely.

"Owen, what are you doing here?" Padme asked.

Owen shifted his bags again. "I'm looking for Anakin. I have some things that belong to him, things that had belonged to his mother," he explained.

Padme nodded to him. "He'll appreciate that," she said and turned to Bail. "Bail, I think that I should handle this, I'll meet you at the Delegation meeting later," she said.

Bail bowed to her. "Of course Milady," he said and began to walk away. He turned back. "You will comm if you need assistance, wont you, Padme?" he asked.

Padme smiled. "Of course I will," she said. Bail nodded to her before leaving. She turned back to Owen. "Have you seen about finding a place to stay while you're here?" she asked.

Owen shook his head. He hadn't planned on staying that long. Besides, he wouldn't even know where to begin to look. "I haven't had time, I just got here," he told her.

Padme smiled again. "I have an extra room in my apartment. You can wait there until Anakin returns," she told him.

"I really wasn't planning on staying that long," Owen told her.

"Well, Anakin isn't on Coruscant, he's away on a mission right now, but he should be back in a week or two. Besides, Anakin would appreciate it more if you gave him what you came here to give him in person," Padme explained as Captain Typho approached them.

"Milady, the transport is ready. We shouldn't linger, especially when Knight Skywalker isn't on planet considering what happened to him recently," Captain Typho said keeping a look out.

"Very well, make sure that there is room for Anakin's step brother, he'll be staying with us," Padme said.

"As you wish Milady," Captain Typho said and walked away to confer with the driver of the transport.

Padme turned to Owen and smiled at him once again. "Are you coming?" she asked.

"I guess I have no choice," Owen said as a guard took his bags from his hands and put them in the transport.

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Anakin walked alongside Obi-Wan while Baxter hung back and Master Jhon stood to the side letting Obi-Wan be the negotiator and talking to the king of Corellia. Anakin listened to everything that was being said. He had no interest in politics, bureaucracy and most of all royalty. The only person he had known to be a member of either that wasn't pompous or self serving was his wife. For a while he believed that the chancellor was the same, but he was rudely woken up and forced to see what Chancellor Palpatine truly was about.

"We'll find your daughter your highness, you have my word on that," Obi-Wan said.

"Please see that you do Master Kenobi for I fear that the separatist will kill Jasmine if we fail to meet their demands," King Mathias said.

It was at that moment that a royal guard came up to them and bowed. "Your majesty, a message for you in the throne room. It's from Count Dooku," the guard said.

"Make sure that there is a tractor put on the transmission," Anakin ordered.

"Right away Knight Skywalker," the guard said returning to his comrades.

"Good call, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. He then turned to Lexus Jhon. "Perhaps, you and your padawan should be in the throne room, but out of sight while the king speaks with Count Dooku," he said.

"That is a good idea, but where should the two of you be?" Lexus asked.

"We'll be in the control room listening in. Anakin and I cannot be anywhere near the transmission, the last thing we want is for our presence known to Count Dooku," Obi-Wan told him.

"That's because he knows your force signature and if he knows that you're here, the element of surprise would be lost," Baxter put in.

"Right," Anakin said not wanting to go in any deeper on the subject. "King Mathias, you should be in the throne room right about now," he added looking at the king.

"Yes, I suppose you are right," King Mathias said and turned to his aids. "Lets get this over with, I'd much rather be done with this separatists slime," he said and walked away with his guards and Lexus and Baxter for the throne room.

Anakin and Obi-Wan turned to one of the kings security officers who stayed back. "Take us to the control room," Anakin commanded.

"Right this way," the security officer said and lead the two jedi into the control room where Anakin and Obi-Wan listened to the king's conversation with Count Dooku.

The Security officer left the control room leaving the two jedi alone. Anakin only half listened to the king argue with Count Dooku's demands. He was more focused on the tractor hoping to tract the signal.

"It's always the same with Dooku," Obi-Wan commented. "Of course Corellia is an asset for either side," he added.

"Excellent ship builders, excellent security. I'm just curious about how Corellia's princess was kidnapped," Anakin said. "I've got it," he said and frowned.

"You found the ship?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Count Dooku if is the Anoat system," Anakin told him.

This time it was Obi-Wan's turn to frown. "The Anoat system? That's in complete control of the separatists," he said.

"Looks like our job just got a little bit harder," Anakin commented.

"I'll say," Obi-Wan said and pulled out his comlink and sent a code to Lexus telling them to get the transmission ended soon. "By the looks of it we have our work cut out for us. Think you're up to it?" he added.

"No question," Anakin told him.

"Good," Obi-Wan said, "lets go."

Anakin followed Obi-Wan out of the control room and towards the throne room. The palace of Corellia was far different than that of Naboo. It was still on the grand side, but the palace itself was built from gray stone thousands of years ago. All in all the palace of Corellia was medieval gothic. Tapestries depicting the many kings of the past lined the hallways. Anakin paid little attention to the palace itself, but surveyed his surroundings looking for a way that the separatist could have kidnapped the princess. Finally they had come to the throne room where the king sat on an ornately carved wooden throne. His advisers sat around him along a round table. Both Anakin and Obi-Wan bowed to the king upon entering.

"Master Kenobi, Knight Skywalker, I trust that you have found the location of Count Dooku and my daughter," the king said.

"Your majesty, the ship that has Princess Jasmine held captive is located in the Anoat system," Obi-Wan told him.

"The Anoat system is in complete control of the separatists!" The king bellowed.

Anakin stepped forward. "The location of the ship makes things a bit harder, but I- we are confidant that we can get in there unnoticed and return the princess to the palace unharmed," Anakin told him.

"Have you come up with a plan, Knight Skywalker?" The king asked frowning.

Anakin looked to Obi-Wan then and rubbed his chin with his right black gloved hand. "What was it you said had you and Master Qui-Gon ending up on Naboo again?" he asked.

"Anakin, that is brilliant," Obi-Wan said and then turned to the questioning looks of everyone in the room. "What my former padawan is suggesting, your majesty is that you send us along with someone to represent you to plead your case to the separatists in one of your own vessels," he said.

The king thought it over for a moment. "I don't feel comfortable sending one of my men into the nexu's den like this," he said.

It was then that Lexus stepped forward and bowed to the king. "Your majesty. If I may. I will pose as one of your men and negotiate with the separatists," he said.

The king rubbed his black beard in thought. "Yes, Master Jhon, I suppose that shall do well. Can you pull it off?" he said finally.

"My master is the best at duplicity when dealing with separatists scum, your majesty," Baxter spoke up proudly.

Lexus put a hand up at Baxter indicating for him to be silent at this. "You're majesty, I am more than confidant that this could work," he said.

"Very well, "Javilla will fit you with official Corellian attire immediately. "The palace hanger will provide you with transport" the king declared.

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Owen stood in awe as he entered Senator Amidala's apartment. Never before had he been inside such a grand place. Tatooine had nothing like this. He briefly wondered if Anakin had ever been inside here.

"Mistress Padme, so good to see you home. I trust that you had an uninterrupted day in the senate," Threepio said coming into the room.

"It was fine, Threepio. Could you prepare the extra guest room for our guest," Padme said giving the droid an order.

"Anakin gave you Threepio?" Owen asked.

"Ani and I sort of traded droids. He needed an astromech droid and I needed a protocol droid. It was a fair deal and he'd hardly be parting with Threepio since he lives here too," Padme explained.

"Anakin lives here?" Owen asked surprised. It figured now why Anakin stayed on Coruscant. If he could live in such a place, he'd stay here too. Suddenly Owen felt that his life was insignificant compared to Anakin Skywalker's. No wondered Shmi was so proud of her son. He was living the high life.

Padme turned to him questionably. "Anakin didn't tell you while he was on Tatooine, did he?" she asked.

This time Owen looked at her in confusion. "Tell me what?" he asked.

Padme shook her head. "You are his family, I don't know why he wouldn't tell you, after he made a big stink about telling our family," she mumbled. "Anakin and I are married. We married just after the battle of Geonosis," she explained.

Owen didn't say anything at first. He remembered the news of the clone wars over the holonet. The war started not even three days after Anakin had brought Shmi's body back to the homestead. Which meant that Anakin had married the senator just after his mother's funeral. But didn't Master Kenobi say something about attachments being forbidden to a jedi? Finally he did speak. "Anakin and I didn't quit get off on the right start. I don't blame him for not sharing this with me," he said.

"Well, I can't say that I'm surprised. Anakin can be a bit difficult at times," Padme said.

"Then why did you marry him?" Owen asked bluntly.

Padme smiled. "Because I love him. Once you get to know him, you'll find that he's someone worth knowing. He is loyal to his friends, especially the people that he loves. He has an amazing sense of humor for starters. When I first met him, I was struck with his kindness and sense of right and wrong considering his being a slave. As a slave you don't know what kindness is. You have no sense of what is right or wrong. But Ani has always been a special case. Shmi was the same way," she told him.

It was the first time that Owen realized that he had prejudged Anakin Skywalker before he had known him. Perhaps he would learn more of his step brother from this woman.

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"ETA to the destination," Anakin asked as he sat in the pilots chair with Obi-Wan in the copilots seat.

"Fifteen minutes," Obi-Wan told him checking the screen.

"I'm making the reversions from hyperspace, be prepared for a bumpy ride," Anakin called pulling up on a lever. Instantly the white streaks flying past became white dotes. Dozens of separatist ships dotted the space in front of them.

"Which one is _The Golden Hand_?" Baxter asked.

Anakin searched through the ships spotting the ship that they were looking for in the middle. "The one in the middle and it's surrounded by vulture droids," he said frowning.

A transmission is coming in," Obi-Wan told him moving out of the way for Lexus. Lexus moved into the seat taking his role as the kings representative.

The transmission cleared revealing the image of Count Dooku. "_Tantive One_ you have clearance to dock in hanger four. Please be quick about it your grace. I look forward to our negotiations," he said and ended the transmission.

"Let the show begin," Anakin commented.

Baxter grinned but Lexus shot him a look. Obi-Wan looked at Anakin. "This isn't going to be easy Anakin," he said.

"I know Master," Anakin said giving Obi-Wan a look. "But we have the element of surprise on our hands," he added.

As soon as _Tantive One_ docked inside the separatist vessel Anakin, Obi-Wan and Baxter hid, while Lexus played his role as the Corellian diplomat. From their hiding spot they heard the mechanical footsteps leading Lexus away to meet with Count Dooku. As soon as they were gone, the three jedi quietly and quickly left the ship and spilled out into the large hanger. Artoo made a series of beeps and Anakin turned to him.

"Artoo, find out where they're holding the princess captive," Anakin ordered the droid.

Artoo beeped some more as he plugged into _The Golden Hand_'s system. Anakin was struck with a sense of deja vu as he remembered Artoo doing the same thing aboard the death star. It didn't matter that these events hadn't happened yet. But to Anakin they did. Artoo started beeping excitedly and Anakin was instantly at his side reading the words that spelled out on his screen.

"Detention block four, lets go," Anakin said and then added, "Artoo, stay with the ship,"

Artoo let out a serious of disappointed beeps before obeying. The three jedi left the hanger before Anakin stopped. "We'll be detected out here," he said.

"Well what do you suggest?" Baxter asked crossing his arms.

"Anakin, no," Obi-Wan said. But it was on deaf ears, Anakin was already pulling open the fuel port.

At that time five destroyer droids began rolling their way over to them.

"We have no choice now," Anakin told them.

The separatists should know by now about this," Obi-Wan grumbled jumping through the port.

"I can't believe you are making me do this," Baxter said checking his lightsaber before jumping in after Obi-Wan. Anakin jumped in after him pulling the port closed as he did so. They landed in a river of fuel chest deep.

"Which way now genius?" Baxter asked.

"This way," both Anakin and Obi-Wan said pointing to the left.

"Next question, do we swim or do we walk?" Baxter asked narrowing his eyes at Anakin.

"I don't know, swimming sounds kinda fun," Anakin said.

"You always swim, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him shaking his head.

"In my defense, I come from a desert planet," Anakin told him.

"When you're done, I'd like to get this over with," Baxter said crossing his arms.

"We're wasting time," Anakin said taking off in a swim through the fuel with Baxter and Obi-Wan following suit. They swam one hundred meters until Anakin came to a stop at a ladder. "Detention block four is up through here," he told them.

"How the hell do _you_ know?" Baxter demanded. "It could be anywhere!"

"I gave up that argument a long time ago," Obi-Wan told him following Anakin up the ladder.

"Why do I ever bother!" Baxter grumbled following them. When he got up into the detention block, Anakin and Obi-Wan had already dismantled several battle droids and Anakin had begun running down the detention block. "Well my work is done," he said casually.

Anakin stopped at the fifth cell door and sliced a hole through it with his lightsaber before kicking it in. A girl of about twelve sat up straight, her blond hair was falling out of it's elaborate hairstyle and her elaborate pink dress was torn in a couple of places from the struggle of her kidnapping.

"Who are you!" she demanded haughtily.

"No time to address pleasantries Princess, right now we need to get you out of here," Anakin said taking her arm and out of the cell.

"Unhand me! When I tell my father about this you will pay!" the princess demanded.

Anakin ignored her and pulled over to the open hatch where Obi-Wan and Baxter were waiting.

"Where are you taking me?" the princes demanded.

"To your father, now into the hatch so that we can get out of here," Anakin ordered.

Princess Jasmine backed away from the odorous hatch. "What is in there? If you think that I'm going in there you have another thing coming. My hair and dress has suffered enough," she said crossing her arms.

"Your hair and dress are ruined Princess, there is nothing more that a bit of fuel wont ruin," Baxter told her.

Princess Jasmine's jaw dropped. "Forget it! I am not swimming in fuel! I am of royal blood! I'm a princess and princesses don't go swimming in fuel!" she said haughtily.

"Your highness, if we are to get you out of here and safely home, we must all make sacrifices in order not to be detected," Obi-Wan reasoned with her.

"You dare talk down to me!" Princess Jasmine snapped.

"I've had enough!" Anakin said and picked the princess up and threw her over his shoulder.

Princess Jasmine kicked her feet into his side and banged her fists on his back. "Unhand me! I am of royal blood, you cannot treat me with such disrespect!" she yelled.

Anakin winced as her feet connected with the spot of his incision. He ignored the pain as he climbed down the ladder into the fuel tank followed by Obi-Wan and Baxter. Once they were all into the tank, Anakin handed the indignant princess over to Obi-Wan and pressed a hand to his side.

"Anakin, are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked.

"For a princess, that kid can kick," Anakin told him before climbing back up the ladder.

"What are you ding now?" Baxter called.

Anakin stopped when the last step was above his head. He took out his lightsaber and sealed the hatch closed with it. Before jumping down into the fuel making a splash. Obi-Wan and Baxter wiped the fuel off of their faces while the Princess glowered at him. Anakin smoothed back his now damp hair from where it fell and stuck to his face.

"Lets go," Obi-Wan commanded.

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Lexus listened as Count Dooku talked about the benefits of Corellia joining the separatists movement. Dooku made some very interesting points and Lexus played his part perfectly. All was going well until a legion of battle droids and three destroyers entered the room.

Count Dooku smiled. "Now Master Jedi, I have no doubt where you partners are," he said.

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The three jedi and reluctant princess swam back towards the hanger where once they got out, the princess rung out her dress. "Now there is no hope for it and this was my favorite dress," she complained.

"Aren't you worried at all about escaping your kidnappers?" Baxter asked bewildered.

"Of course not, my father will see to their execution," Princess Jasmine told him.

Baxter shook his head as they entered _Tantive One_. Once inside Anakin grabbed the princess by the arm and pulled her to the back hold.

"What are you doing?! Unhand me! Don't you realize that I'm a princess?! You cannot treat me with such barbaric nature!" Princess Jasmine snapped.

Anakin ignored her and put her into the ships hold. "Now, you will stay here and out of trouble or this whole rescue mission will be for nothing," he ordered.

"How dare you order me about I am of royal blood!" the princess snapped.

"Yes and I married a queen!" Anakin snapped at her and shut the door to the hull making sure to lock it.

"Bax, guard her, make sure that she doesn't do anything stupid," Anakin told his friend.

"Why me?!" Baxter demanded.

"Because you're still a padawan," Obi-Wan told him and turned to Anakin. "Lexus is in trouble," he said.

"I sensed it too," Anakin said.


	31. Mission Accomplished

_**A/N: Another chapter, hehe. I personally feel that nothing special happens in this one. The next one will be better because it'll have a big revelation in it. I hope you like this chapter.**_

_**Charlie**_

* * *

Anakin and Obi-Wan ran through the corridors of _The Golden Hand_ not knowing where Lexus was at the moment. They knew that Count Dooku knew that they were here. It was foolish to think that he would not sense Lexus' force signature. Knowing that Lexus was captured was one thing but Lexus was also unarmed. In the official Corellian attire that was given to Lexus to wear, there was no place to conceal a lightsaber. Right now Obi-Wan had Lexus' lightsaber. Which made both jedi run faster until they came to a fork in the corridor. 

"Think we should split up?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin shook his head. "I think that would be a bad idea in this case. Besides, we work better together," he said.

"Either way we're about to have company," Obi-Wan said just as a legion of battle droids come at them from both the right and the left. They were about to turn around but five destroyers rolled to a stop from the direction that they came in. They were surrounded. "All we need now is for Grievous to show up," Obi-Wan grumbled.

"You had to jinx it," Anakin told him flatly as General Grievous' mechanical caughing was heard.

"How was I supposed to know that he'll show up?" Obi-Wan defended himself.

"Master Kenobi," caugh, "and Knight Skywalker," caugh, "so nice of you to joing us," Grievous said once he was in sight.

Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other. Anakin used some sort of hand signal and Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, not that one," he said and used a different hand signal.

Anakin shook his head, "what about?" he said and used another hand signal.

"Ah, that'll work," Obi-Wan said.

Both jedi ignited their lightsabers and stood back to back, cutting a hole in the floor around them making then drop into the floor benith them. Unfortunatly they dropped infront of a legion of battle droids. Fortunatly that legion was taking Lexus to the brig.

"Jedi, kill them," one droid said aiming his blaster at them.

"Roger roger," the other droids said also aiming their blasters at them.

Obi-Wan tossed Lexus his lightsaber who caught it between his bound hands, ignited it and cut through his bonds before helping Anakin and Obi-Wan slice through the droids.

"Nice of you to show up," Lexus commented once the droids were destroyed.

"We needed to get rid of a pest first," Anakin told him.

"Grievous?" Lexus asked.

"The princess is back with the ship, Baxter is guarding her," Obi-Wan explained.

"I take it Skywalker and the princess didn't hit it off," Lexus said as they ran through the corridors of the ship.

"Such a thing should not be heir to a planet's throne!" Anakin said. "She's selfish, spoiled, materialistic, arrogent, self ritious..." he said listing off Princess Jasmine's worser qualities.

"You mean she's like you," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin threw him a disgusted look. "Princess Jasmine and I have nothing in common," he said flatly.

"On the contrary, Anakin, You are arrogent, self ritious and your abilities have made you spoiled," Obi-Wan told him.

"Oh yes, I'm spoiled. How in siths name can a dirty slave boy be spoiled?!" Anakin spat indigiantly.

"I'm not going to get into this with you right now Anakin," Obi-Wan told him.

"Then why did you bring it up?" Anakin demanded.

"You two are acting like rivaling brothers! I suggest you quit it while we have a job to do," Lexus told them flatly.

"This isn't over," Anakin told Obi-Wan.

"Nothing is ever over for you," Obi-Wan told him.

The three jedi ran into an turbo lift to get to the above floor before running into the hanger, dodging laser fire from blasters.

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Baxter had shut the ships hatch as soon as Anakin and Obi-Wan had left. Princess Jasmine was still locked in the hull fuming. Baxter hated waiting around like this but now their presence was known on an enemy vessel and someone needed to protect the ship. They knew that this operation was risky and they went along with it anyway. With the princess' safely locked in the ships hold, Baxter kept watch inside the cockpit. He let out a breath of relief that he didn't know he was holding at the sight of Anakin, Obi-Wan and his master running into the hanger. Baxter quickly opened the hatch for the three jedi to board the ship. He closed the hatch as three footsteps were heard running through the ship. In an instant Anakin ran and jumped into the pilots seat working the controls. Baxter noticed Anakin's jaw clench in pain and the soft hiss of pain he let out and he instantly became worried for his friend.

"You okay, pal?" Baxter asked.

"I'm fine. Lets get the hell out of here before they close us off!" Anakin said firing up _Tantive One_'s engines torching a few hundred battle droids in the process and took off at full speed, pushing the ship to it's limits. They just made it out of the hanger into space. By now every separatist ship in sight was alerted to their presence and they created a blockade.

"You have got to be kidding me! I know you guys can do better than this!" Anakin yelled. "Someone fire the guns and hold on, we're going to escape through that asteroid field," he said.

"Can't you do something else Anakin?! I don't particularly like the thought of flying in an asteroid field," Obi-Wan complained.

"It's our best shot, Master. Beside, the asteroids wont harm us. You seem to always forget that I've been flying before I could walk," Anakin told him confidently.

"No time for arguing now! Come on Kenobi, the kids have things under control here, the guns need us," Lexus said getting up from his seat and climbing down the ladder to fire one of the guns.

The ship rocked as it was hit three times. "Blast it Anakin, this is why I hate flying!" Obi-Wan yelled. The ship rocked again as he got up. Obi-Wan grabbed the back of the seat to keep his balance.

Anakin grinned as the ship rocked again. "This is where the fun begins," he said.

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Owen banged on the food replicator again when it stopped midstream from opening. "Come on!" he yelled. This was the fifth time that the replicator had frozen up on him. Owen would fix it himself, but he didn't know where Anakin kept the tools and Threepio had been ordered not to touch the tools after an unfortunate instant when the droid dropped one of the wrenches down the sink drain some time back. He banged on the replicator again at the same time that Padme walked it.

"It's acting up again, isn't it?" she asked.

"I'd fix it for you, but Threepio refuses to fetch the tools for me," Owen told her.

Padme shook her head. "Ani's fixed it five times already. Truth is that the replicator is fifteen years old. I have to com the embassy to have it replaced," she told him. "Look, I thought that it would be nice if you got out of this apartment. I've made reservations at one of my favorite restaurants. Dorme went out and fetched you some more comfortable cloths so you wouldn't be cold," she said.

"You didn't have to do that," Owen told her.

"You're family, it's what families do," Padme told him simply.

"How would Anakin take it if you were seen having dinner with another man?" Owen asked her.

Padme frowned. "Ani has no reason to be jealous. He'll see reason," she told him.

"It wouldn't feel right if we went out to dinner together, Padme," Owen told her.

"Nonsense. Now go get dressed, we have an hour to get to the restaurant," Padme told him.

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_Tantive One_ pulled out of the asteroid field with burns and large bumps. But other than that, the ship was in good shape. The passengers of the ship all breathed a sigh of relief but no one was more relieved than Obi-Wan.

"Now that you've proven yourself as a pilot, Anakin, get us back to Corellia," Obi-Wan said.

"Yes Master," Anakin replied.

"Where's the princess?" Lexus asked.

"E chu ta!"

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said flatly.

Baxter looked at his master for a moment. "Anakin locked her in the hull, Master," he said.

Lexus looked at Anakin sternly. "You locked a royal princess in the ships hall Skywalker! She has been tossed about back there, have you gone mad!" he snapped.

"It was to keep her safe," Baxter said shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't care about that! Princesses are to be treated with respect, not like baggage!" Lexus snapped at them both. "Now I will go get the princess and you will apologize to her," he told them getting up.

"I wouldn't get up yet, we still need to make the jump to hyperspace," Obi-Wan told him.

Lexus sat back down as Anakin made the jump to hyperspace. Once they were on their way back to Corellia, Lexus got up again and walked to the back of the ship where he heard furious muttering from behind one of the doors to the ships holds. Using the force, Lexus opened the door to reveal the fuming twelve year old princess. Princess Jasmine's hair was now halfway out of it's elaborate hairstyle and tossled.

"Now who are you?" she demanded crossing her arms.

"My apologies your highness. I am Jedi Master Lexus Jhon. Your father has asked for mine, my padawan's, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi's and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker's help in finding and rescuing you. We are now on our way to your home planet of Corellia," Lexus said with a bow.

Princess Jasmine narrowed her eyes and looked down her nose at him. "Well, at least one of you have the decency of decorum about you. I could say less about your comrades Master Jedi," she huffed.

Lexus was stunned that Skywalker's description of the princess was accurate. He kept it to himself though. "If your highness wishes, we would be honored if you would join us in the cockpit," he said.

The princess pursed her lips as she thought about it. "I will join you, but only to keep an eye on you all so that I could give my father a full report," she said at last.

"Right this way your highness," he said showing her the way.

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Owen was stunned with the homey atmosphere of the restaurant that Padme had taken him to. Kristina's wasn't as fancy as Senator Amidala seemed to be. The walls were powder blue with carved wooden tables and cushioned seating. There was a vase of flowers on each table. And the patrons were dressed casually. Padme herself was dressed causal in a navy blue dress and causal hair style. Even the outfit that her handmaiden Dorme had fetched for him to wear was casual.

"This place always reminds me of my parents home on Naboo. The food is great but nothing could ever compare to my mother's cooking," Padme told him.

Owen said nothing as they were lead to a table, seated and handed menus. Most of the dishes on the menu was something that he had never heard of. But that was normal. On Tatooine, there is little food verity. Their meat came from either a bantha or a nuna. Truth be told, he felt completely out of place on Coruscant. Part of him wished to stay so that he could experience new things, but the majority of him couldn't wait to get back home so that he could have a sense of normalcy. "I don't even know what most of this is," he confessed.

Padme smiled. "Kristina's has a wide verity of dishes from planets across the galaxy. When Ani and I would dress in disguises for a night out, he often suggests to come here. He has tried every dish on the menu. If he were here, he'd give you a full rundown of the different dishes, but I mostly eat Nubian dishes when I come here," she told him.

"Well, what do you suggest that I order?" Owen asked her.

"The aredies souffle is delicious here," Padme told him.

"What is that?" Owen asked her.

"What a souffle?" Padme asked. Owen nodded. "A souffle is a dish that is made from a sauce, egg yolks, beaten egg whites, and a flavoring or purée and then baked until puffed up. An aredies souffle has cheese and nuna meat in it. It originates from Naboo," she explained.

Owen put down his menu and smiled at her. "Well that settles it, I'll have an aredies souffle," he said.

Padme smiled at him. "A wise choice I'm sure," she told him.

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When _Tantive One_ docked in the palace hanger of Corellia. King Mathias, Queen Aphrodite and their oldest daughter Princess Makayla stood with the palace guards waiting for the four jedi and the lost princess to appear. Anakin took a good look at the royal family. From the Queen's body language, Princess Jasmine took after her in not only appearance, but in attitude. The other princess who looked to be sixteen looked like the king, but she was a bit harder to read. Anakin watched Lexus and Baxter escort Princess Jasmine down the ramp. He had no interest in going down there. Briefly he put a hand to his side and winced. He felt the dampness in his tunic there. Thankfully he wore dark jedi robes. No one noticed when he felt his incision tear open.

"You're in pain, what did you do?" Obi-Wan asked at his side.

"It's nothing," Anakin told him firmly. "We have a job to do," he told him walking down the ramp. He watched as Princess Jasmine leaped into her father's arms with a cry of 'Daddy!'. Anakin spaced out thinking of what it would be like to come home from a mission and have Leia launch herself to him upon seeing him with the same cry.

"We are grateful for your efficiency in restoring our daughter to us," King Mathias said to them.

"You have no need to thank us your majesty," Lexus said bowing.

"You have done a brave thing in jumping into the heart of the separatists movement to rescue my sister, Corellia will forever be grateful to you," Princess Makayla said.

An idea struck Anakin and Obi-Wan quickly looked at him sensing his thoughts. Anakin ignored his stern look as the wheels in his head started turning. He couldn't present his proposal now, he needed to wait for a later date. "With your permission you majesties, I believe our time here is up," he said graciously.

"Yes I suppose you are right Knight Skywalker. Have as safe journey back to Coruscant, the war needs more like you," King Mathias said.

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Anakin was grateful to be back on Coruscant now that his mission was over. Now he can focus on his task in stopping Palpatine. It was night when he had returned to Coruscant which mean that his report to the council would wait until morning. Anakin had a lot to think about so he decided on taking a walk home. As he passed a news stand a picture caught his attention. In bold blue print stood out the letters "**SENATOR AMIDALA'S POTENTIAL LOVE INTEREST!**". Anakin snatched up the odious magazine to see Padme sitting at a table at Kristina's with another man who's face was obscured. Jealousy filled Anakin at the thought of his wife on a date with another man. He tossed the magazine aside and quickened his pace home.

Anakin noted how long it took him to get home, but once he was inside the apartment he made quick work of sensing who was inside. He instantly sensed another man in here. Whoever the poor bastard was, he was about to make him pay dearly. Before he could do anything though, Padme came out in her dressing gown . Her face lit up when she saw him.

"Ani!" she called rushing over to him and throwing her arms around him.

On instinct Anakin's arms came around her before he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her away from him. "Where is he?" he demanded.

Padme looked at him for a moment. "Ani..." she began.

"I don't want any excuses Padme. I saw a picture of the two of you at Kristina's. I know he's in here," he told her.

Padme knew where he was getting at now. "Owen just went to bed a short time ago, Ani," she told him.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at her. "Owen, as in my step brother! You're carrying on with my step brother!" he snapped.

Padme frowned at his accusation. "Is that what you think?" she demanded. "I hate it when you do this Anakin. You need to trust me if this marriage will work," she told him flatly.

"Then why is Owen here?" he asked her.

"He came to see you. He has some things that belongs to you," she told him.

Suddenly Anakin felt ashamed at thinking the worse. "I'm sorry Padme. When I read that headline, I didn't know what to think. I hate that we have to keep our marriage a secret," he told her.

"How do you think I feel about it Ani?" Padme asked him.

"It wont always be like this, I promise," Anakin told him pulling her close to him but soon regretting it when the open incision stung from it. He quickly put his hand over it and hissed from the pain.

Padme frowned when she noticed this "Ani you're hurt!" she cried.

"I'm going to need you to help me with this," he told her.

"You need to see a healer," Padme told him.

"I don't need a healer, I can fix this myself," Anakin told her. "Just help me get this tunic off."

"Come on, there's some medical pads, stitching and bacta in the refresher," Padme told him leading him into the refresher when she helped him pull off his tunic. She frowned as she saw the open incision. "They shouldn't have sent you away like this," she told him.

"I'm fine," Anakin told her calling over the stitching and began to stitch the incision closed, wincing each time the needle pierced his skin with the thread pulling through it.

"Oh! Sorry!" Owen said walking into the refresher and stopping at the sight of Anakin stitching a wound closed. "Are you alright?" he asked concerned.

Anakin winced again. "I'm fine," he told him without looking at him. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I kinda needed to use the refresher," Owen told him.

"I'll be done in a few moments," Anakin told him as he finished up the last stitch.

Padme spread some bacta on the wound. "What happened to pull that open," she asked.

"A corellian princess kicked me when I rescued her from the separatists," Anakin told her.

Padme frowned. "Why would she do that?" she asked.

"She didn't like me," Anakin told her flatly. "Don't worry it was mutual," he added.

Owen raised an eyebrow. "I wonder what you did wrong," he said.

"Don't ask," Anakin said getting up. "I'm going to bed," he said turning to Padme.

"I'll be right there Ani, your tunic needs to be washed before the blood stains it," she told him.

"I don't care about stains," Anakin told her leaving the refresher.

Once he was gone, Owen turned to her. "Does he often come back injured?" he asked.

Padme shook her head. "Not often," she said.

* * *


	32. Shmi's Son's

_**A/N: Well, I haven't forgotten about Siri's investigation. This chapter is much better than the last. I hope you enjoy.  
**_

_**Charlie**_

* * *

Dirthmar turned as he smelled Chora's scent close by. He smiled at seeing the petite assassin. "My source has informed me that Skywalker has returned to Coruscant. Our time to move is soon," he told her.

Siri tilted her chin up upon hearing this. Of course she knew that Skywalker was back, the council had informed her of this the night before. "I don't suppose that you'll tell me who this source is then?" she asked. So far she was no closer to finding out who wanted Anakin dead. The one thing she did have was Dirthmar's plan to capture Anakin.

Dirthmar remained impassive. "Never worry your pretty little head about that. You have a job to do Chora and that job is to help me. You don't need to know everything," he told her.

Siri smiled sweetly. "I thought this was a temporary partnership Dirthmar. As your partner I too get to know who we're working for. Besides, I always make it a point to know who I'm working for," she said.

Dirthmar took her chin between his fingers and leaned closer taking in her scent. Siri was hit full blast by his pheromones. "Our employer wishes to remain anonymous," he told her.

Siri nodded her understanding through the fog of pheromones. "I understand. But surely you see that it is unfair for you to know who he is when I don't," she whispered huskily.

Dirthmar smiled. He saw her point, but the more that their employer's identity is kept secret, the bigger the payoff. On another hand, the longer it took to get to Skywalker, the more time he had to seduce this new assassin.

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Anakin had gotten up before the others just as the sun was rising. He moved around carefully, not wanting he incision to open up again. He threw on his cloak before leaving the bedroom to start the morning meal. Halfway through cooking, he sensed someone else walk into the kitchen. He knew that it wasn't Padme mainly because Padme wasn't an early riser. That and the fact that the person was male.

"How do you want your eggs?" Anakin asked without turning around.

"I thought I'd have to fight with the food replicator again this morning," Owen said. Now that Anakin was here, he wasn't sure how things would go now. So far, Padme had been a gracious hostess, but now it was Anakin's turn to play the host. Considering the last time that they had seen each other, he decided to tread carefully. He knew nothing about Anakin's moods and he defenantly didn't want to test the jedi again.

"That damn thing is broken again isn't it?" Anakin asked. He sensed Owens unease around him and mentally sighed with relief that he wasn't the only one. He had no idea how this step brother thing should go. But he knew that his mother would be upset with him if he didn't try to get along with Owen.

"Your wife said something about getting it replaced," Owen told him.

"I wonder how long that'll take," Anakin said. "How do you want your eggs?" he asked again.

"Over easy," Owen told him.

"Padme seems to like them scrambled with cheese," Anakin told him cracking two nuna eggs into a frying pan.

"Beru prefers them poached," Owen told him.

"How is Beru?" Anakin asked.

"She's good. We were married a couple of months ago," Owen said.

"Congratulations," Anakin said. "How is your father?" he asked.

"My father passed away recently," Owen told him.

"I'm sorry," Anakin said at the news. He liked Cliegg Lars. He personally couldn't ask for a better man to have married his mother.

"It has been coming for a long time. After Shmi died, he barely carried on. My father and your mother really did love each other you know," Owen told him as Anakin sat down across from Owen at the table with both of their plates of breakfast.

Anakin smiled. "I wish I could have seen how happy my mother was then. I'm happy that she and your father found each other," he said at last.

"I've brought you her belongings, I have little use for them now. Besides, they really do belong to you now that both she and my father are dead," Owen told him.

Anakin didn't know what to say to that. Part of him couldn't bare to look or touch his mothers things again. But another part of him yearned for something of her. "Thank you," he said at last.

It was then that Padme entered the kitchen wearing her dressing gown. She bent down and kissed Anakin's cheek. "Morning Anakin," she said. She then turned to Owen. "I trust you slept well," she said.

"Very," Owen told her.

"Your breakfast in on the counter," Anakin told her.

"You didn't have to cook Anakin," she said.

Anakin shrugged. "I was up," Anakin told her simply.

Padme took a good look at the large helping of meat, eggs and pancakes with a large dose of maple syrup on his plate. "Anakin, do you really think you should be eating like this so soon?" she asked crossing her arms.

"Minga gave me a clean bill of health. I was deprived of real food for over a week, I'm indulging myself," Anakin said defensively.

"Anakin! You just had major surgery to repair your stomach after being poisoned!" Padme reminded him.

"Clean bill of health," Anakin repeated taking a large bite of pancake.

"Fine, don't listen to me, I'm only your wife and care about your well being," Padme muttered taking a seat next to Anakin and began cutting into her food.

Owen smiled to himself. He had decided on delaying his return to Tatooine for a bit in favor of the chance to get to know Anakin a bit. It was something that both his father and Shmi had wanted, for him and Anakin to get along.

"After we finish eating, why don't we go ahead and go through Shmi's things," Padme suggested.

Anakin paused for a moment. "I suppose that sounds like a plan," he said at last.

"Ani, what is it?" Padme asked.

"It's just the thought of seeing my mothers few prized possessions again. I haven't seen any of it since I was nine and now that she's gone..." Anakin trailed off not wanting to go there.

Owen hadn't expected this when he brought Shmi's belongings here. He said nothing as Padme placed a hand over Anakin's.

"Oh, Ani. I couldn't begin to imagine what that would be like," she said.

Anakin squeezed her hand. "It's okay Padme," he told her.

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"This is all of it," Owen said setting down the largest duffel bag down in the living room in front of Anakin. He pulled the duffel away to reveal a large wooden chest. "Carrying this thing through the streets of Coruscant wasn't easy you know," he said at last.

Anakin traced his left hand along the carvings of the chest, remembering how long it took him to carve this out. "It took me a year to complete this," he said at last.

"After she died, Dad had gathered all of her things up and put them in here. I don't know how to open it, I'm sorry," Owen said.

Padme who was sitting beside Anakin squeezed his other hand offering him her support but saying nothing.

Anakin squeezed her hand back before kneeling on the floor in front of the chest. "It's voice activated with a password. An inside word that only made sense to my mother and myself," he said. He smiled as he remembered the stories that his mother had made up for him. One night he had made up a word that had gotten his mother to start laughing. "Miichaboo," Anakin said. Instantly mechanical clicks could be heard and the lid to the chest cracked open with a hiss. Anakin grinned at them and he lifted the lid up. The chest was full of stuff. Carved wooden boxes were piled up on one side of the chest, there were even a few holos and lots of books bound in rough brown leather. There were a number of other things in there as well. With shaky hands, Anakin picked up the first carved box and opened it. Inside was a silver pendant on a silver chain with ancient symbols on it. Anakin blinked in confusion as he picked it up.

"My mother wore this everyday, she never took it off. I don't understand why it is in here, she should have been buried with it," he said.

"Ani, you were the one who wrapped her body up before she was buried, didn't you notice that she wasn't wearing it?" Padme told him.

Anakin shook his head. "As far as I knew, she always wore it underneath her clothes. I wasn't about to check and see if she was wearing it or not," he told her.

"Shmi took it off at night, especially when she was cleaning it. Perhaps she just didn't put it on that morning," Owen said.

"What do the symbols mean?" Padme asked looking at the pendant.

"She never told me. I never asked," Anakin told her. Wordlessly, he unclasped the chain and put it around his neck. The pendant rested against his chest. Somehow he felt closer to his mother wearing it. He then picked up an old holo that was taken by Jira an old friend of his mothers. The holo was that of Anakin with his mother. Anakin stared at it as old memories flashed through his mind. Anakin's grip on the holo tightened knowing that there would never be any moments like it ever again.

Padme placed her hands on his and gently pried the holo out of his hands. "I'm sure that we could find a suitable place for this," she said gently.

Anakin was grateful for Padme's being here with him. He nodded to her, silently telling her that he was alright. He then picked up the first leather bound book and flipped through it. It was all in his mother's handwriting. He had read all his mother's books, all of which were purchased with what money he could earn them. His mother loved to read the stories in the books even if the books were tattered and ancient. But this was something else all together. He frowned. "I've never seen this before. It's my mother's handwriting, but I can't remember ever seeing her write anything other than when she would work on Watto's books," he said.

"She started to keep a diary after my father brought her to the homestead," Owen explained.

Anakin suddenly closed the book. "I can't read this," he said.

"Ani," Padme began.

"No, these are my mother personal thoughts, they're private," Anakin said setting the diary aside.

Padme picked up the diary and handed it back to him. "She was your mother Anakin, She wouldn't have minded if you read this, especially now that she's gone. Perhaps if you read this, then you'll see for yourself how happy she was," she told him.

Anakin took the diary out of her hands and set it back inside the chest before he closed it. "I think that's it for the day," he said standing up.

Owen looked from the chest to Anakin and saw that he couldn't go through it any longer. He understood the emotions that his step brother was feeling now. In the days after his father had died, he had gone through his things but he could only do it for so long.

"I should head over to the temple. I'm sure that Master Yoda is anxious to see me this morning. There are some things that I need to discuss with him," Anakin said and then looked at Owen. "Perhaps later on, I might be able to give you a tour. I'll ask Master Yoda is that would be alright with him," he added.

"You don't have to do that," Owen told him.

Padme smiled at him. "You'll enjoy spending time at the temple, the archives at the temple are the largest there is," she said wistfully wishing that she could explore them.

"The archives has information on farming, perhaps you could gain more knowledge about moisture farming and see about a way to make a larger profit from it," Anakin suggested.

Owen thought about it for a moment. The farm _did_ need a lot. His father had spent the last three years of his life looking for a way to save it with no luck. "Alright, I'll take you up on that offer," he said finally.

Anakin nodded. "I don't know when I'll be back," he told him before leaving.

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"Found something on your mission you did?" Master Yoda asked once Anakin was seated in his chambers.

"You never do anything without a reason, do you Master?" Anakin asked with a smile.

"Why do something if no reason there is to do it?" Master Yoda asked.

Anakin shook his head. "You had ulterior motives behind sending me to Corellia Master. You know that Corellia could help us stop the clones. You also knew that I needed to gain their trust for them to help us," he said.

"Know this I did," Master Yoda confessed opening his eyes to look at him. "Gain their trust have you?" he asked.

Anakin smiled. "Princess Jasmine did not have one scratch on her when she was returned to Corellia, a bit disheveled but unharmed," he told him. With your permission, Master, I would like to return to Corellia to formally ask for King Mathias' help. With the information I have I am confidant that he will help us," he said.

"My permission you do not need. If proof you need, kidnap a clone again you will not. Matters not what they are programed to do, matters it does for us to stop them or we will not survive," Master Yoda told him.

"I understand Master," Anakin said. He paused unsure on how he would ask this.

"More you have to say?" Master Yoda asked.

Anakin nodded. "Master. My step brother Owen has come to visit me. I ask for your permission to show him the temple. The jedi doesn't need to know that he isn't one of us, I could have him dress as one of us," he asked.

"Important this is to you?" Master Yoda asked.

"This is the family that my mother became a part of. I need to know more about him," Anakin told him.

"Important enough it is. Owen may visit the temple, provided he wears jedi robes," Master Yoda told him.

"Thank you Master," Anakin said bowing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Owen looked at the tan colored jedi robes laid out on the bed with reservations. There was not only one tunic, but two, and it didn't stop there, there were three other pieces of fabric that needed to go over the second tunic. He looked at Anakin.

"I don't think this is a good idea," he told him.

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest. "It's pretty self explanatory," he said. He pointed to lightest colored tunic, "That is the inner tunic, you put that on first. Then you put on the outer tunic. The tabards go on over the outer tunic, over each shoulder which are then held in place when you put on the belt," he explained.

"Why so many layers?" Owen asked.

Anakin shrugged. "I'm the wrong one to ask. But this is the traditional robes for a jedi, we all dress like this, well with the exception of Aayla Secura, she generally wears form fitting leather pants and a leather top. I never questioned her choice in attire and I never cared," he said.

Owen picked up the utility belt examining it. "And what is everything on here for?" he asked.

"You don't need to know about that, jedi business," Anakin told him seriously. When Owen looked at him taken aback and questionably, Anakin grinned. "Sounds official doesn't it?" he said laughing.

"Do you always make jokes like that?" Owen asked him.

"I don't just joke around. You should have been in the temple when I put up a force field around all the toilets in the female refreshers in the temple, It took the rest of the jedi a month before they figured out that I was the one who set it up. It took a day of planning, but I made it work. Of course when I was caught I was made to clean all the female refreshers," Anakin told him.

Owen shook his head. "You're not making me do this as some sort of practical joke are you?" he asked.

"I would find nothing humorous in getting into trouble with the council again at the moment. I have a job to do here, I can't jeopardize it for practical jokes," Anakin told him.

"The jedi temple is really off limits to civilians then?" Owen asked. "Why are you insisting that I check it out if you'll get into trouble for it?" he asked.

"I'll tell you a secret. Master Yoda, who is the grand master of the jedi order, is my friend and ally. He can't always be open about it with the rest of the order, but he basically has my back. Generally attachments are forbidden for a jedi for the past one thousand years. I'm a special case. I can be expelled from the order because I broke a vital part of the jedi code to marry Padme, but Master Yoda knows about my marriage and supports it. Even if the high council finds out that I'm giving my step brother a tour of the temple, Master Yoda will find a way to bail me out. The council pretty much does what Master Yoda says anyway," Anakin told him.

"So you mess up and you suffer through no consequences, must be nice," Owen said sarcastically.

"That's not what I meant," Anakin told him. "Master Yoda can think of any suitable punishment himself, he doesn't need the council to give me one. What I meant is that if we are found out, Master Yoda will help salvage the situation being that he gave me permission to show you around."

"How many times has this Yoda salvaged the situation with you?" Owen asked raising an eyebrow.

"So far?" Anakin asked.

"Yes," Owen confirmed.

"Since my alliance with Master Yoda, once just recently," Anakin told him honestly.

"So what did you do?" Owen asked him.

"I kidnapped a clone and dissected his brain," Anakin told him bluntly.

"What?!" Owen sputtered. "Are you insane?"

"I'm saner than I have been this past year," Anakin told him.

"What do you mean by that?" Owen asked.

Anakin paused unsure if he should tell him this. He wasn't too fond of people knowing about Vader. But he also couldn't lie. Lying was against his personal moral code. Lying and betrayal were number one on the list. Finally he decided to be as honest as he could. But he would choose his words carefully. "I pretty much lost it when my mother died. I'm finally getting the help that I need to work through it," he said at last.

Suddenly Owen felt immensely guilty about the things he had said months ago. But he didn't know. He didn't know that Anakin was suffering. He didn't know Anakin at all.

"Look you need to make sure that the tabards look right or you'll fail at playing the role of jedi. I'll show you the correct way to wear them and then we'll do a run down of what to do and what not to do at the temple. You need to act the part as well as look like a jedi. I don't expect you to be completely convincing. You just need to know enough so that you can blend in unnoticed. That's about all I can do for you," Anakin said changing the subject. "We'll practice here and then you can try it out at the temple tomorrow," he said.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin lay flat on his back staring up at the ceiling once again. Padme had fallen asleep hours ago but he had yet to get to sleep. He checked the crono and read 1100 hours. His mind had refused to shut down for the night. He looked over at the crono again and noticed the holo of him with his mother. She was smiling in that holo. Did she smile often when she lived on the Lars Homestead. Was she really happy? Just when he thought he would never know, he was given her diary. But he couldn't read it. He would be invading her privacy if he read it. But she was dead. Was her diary private anymore now that she was dead? There was so much he needed to know. So much the he could know. Padme was right. Out of everyone, he alone had the right to read that diary. His mother would understand. Not wanting to wake Padme, he slowly moved out of bed. Silently he left the bedroom and walked into the living room. The city lights illuminated the room enough for him to see what he was doing and what he was reading. He opened up the trunk and took out his mother's diary. He prayed to the force that she wouldn't smack him in his sleep for this before he opened up the first page and began to read the words that his mother had written.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Owen had always been an early riser. As a farmer he needed to rise with the suns. But he was away from the farm. Far away from Tatooine. He didn't have to get up early while he was here. But he did. It was his body clock. Like every morning he walked into the kitchen to get a tall glass of blue milk to start the day. But this morning he glanced into the living room on his way to the kitchen to see Anakin was already up and reading a book from his mother's chest. He really didn't want to disturb him and was about to continue into the kitchen until he heard his name being called.

"I'd like a word with you," Anakin said without turning to him as he paused in the doorway to the living room.

Owen could tell that what ever Anakin wanted to talk about, it was serious and that there would be no avoiding it. So he walked further into the living room. "What about?" he asked.

Anakin stood up and Owen now noticed what it was exactly that Anakin was reading. Granted he was curious but what would there be in Shmi's diary that would make Anakin confront him now?

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest in an imposing gesture which wasn't hard with him being bigger than Owen was. "When exactly were you going to tell me that my mother adopted you" he demanded.

Owen was shocked! He hadn't expected to hear that. "I don't know what you mean by that," he said at last.

Anakin frowned. "My mother never lied, not vocally and not on paper. She was as honest as she could be. If I choose to investigate this further, I am certain that I would find the proof from what she claims in her diary," he said flatly.

Owen shook his head. "I really don't know anything about this," he said astonished.

Anakin regarded him for a moment. His senses told him that Owen was speaking the truth. He really didn't know about the adoption. He relaxed a bit and handed Owen the diary. "It says so right here," he said pointing to the page.

Owen noted the date was shortly after his father's and Shmi's wedding. All this time he had wanted Shmi to accept him as her son and he thought she hadn't, but here she had adopted him. That meant a lot. It also meant that he and Anakin were brothers. They were family. Now he not only had his wife, but he had a brother and a sister in law. What was next? He was happy now that he had decided to extend his visit. "I don't know what to say," he said finally.

"This is new to me too," Anakin confessed and then grinned. "You know what this means?" he asked.

"That we're brothers," Owen said.

"Not only that but now you have even more reason to see the temple. As my brother you should see what was my home for ten years and where I go every day," Anakin told him. Owen groaned. He was now going to see first hand what it would be like to have Anakin Skywalker as his brother.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't think that I have ever seen anything so big before," Owen whispered as they walked through the temple.

"That was my first impression. When I first came here, I was not only overwhelmed but I was cold too," Anakin told him.

"Anakin Skywalker!"

Anakin froze on the spot and cringed. Owen looked at him questionably with a raised eyebrow. Anakin turned around to see Minga walking towards them and plastered on a grin. "Minga! You should be happy to know that the mission went well," he said.

Once Minga was face to face with him she crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "I heard you were injured," she said poitedly.

"Honestly Minga, you should know better than to believe the tabloids," Anakin said crossing his arms.

Suddenly Minga lunged at him pulling at his tunic.

"Hey!" Anakin yelled pulling away from her. "What are you doing?!"

"Let me see that incision!" Minga snapped at him.

"I'm fine Minga," Anakin told her firmly.

"I'll be the judge of that Anakin," Minga told him flatly and firmly.

"Hey you said it and I quote," he began, "If Anakin Skywalker feels himself fully healed enough to pull a fool stunt as he did today, then surely he is healed enough for active duty. He knows perfictly well how to heal himself should he get hurt out there. I wash my hands clean of the situation, Master," he said in a perfect imitation of Minga.

Minga frowed. "You think you're funny don't you," she said flatly.

"I'm just reminding you of what you said, that's all," Anakin told her. "I don't know how you heard that I was hurt, but I wasn't, okay," he told her.

"Really, is that why you were stitching yourself up?" Owen asked. Anakin threw him a scathing look. Owen just smiled at him.

Minga grabbed Anakin's arm and used to force to pull him. "I don't care what you say Anakin Skywalker, you're coming to the medical bay now!" she snapped.

"Come on Minga! I've had enough of being there for quite some time now!" Anakin complained.

Owen just shook his head as he followed the two. It was clear to him that Anakin hated medical centers. But he also wanted to know what he was in the medical bay for recently and why Padme was worried about what he was eating this morning.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"Well it looks okay enough. But I suggest that you don't do anything strenous before it fully heals," Minga told Anakin after inspecting the incision.

"I told you that I was fine," Anakin told her.

"If you excuse me for not believeing you. You'll make any excuse to to be a patiant in here Anakin," Minga told him.

"I don't make excuses and you know it," Anakin told her frowning.

Minga smirked. "You seem to forget that I know you rather well, Anakin," she said and then nodded at Owen. "Who's your friend, I know that he's no jedi," she asked.

Anakin looked over at Owen and back at Minga. "He's my brother, Owen," he told her.

Minga looked over at Owen not detecting any family resemblance to Anakin and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize that you had a brother," she said looking at Anakin.

"I didn't until recently. My mother adopted him," Anakin explained.

"Well in that case," she said and turned to Owen. "It's apleasure to meet you Owen. Since you're Anakin's brother, you're a part of the extended family," she said.

"Extended family?" Owen asked.

"Minga is kinda like my big sister. Obi-Wan is family also, he calls himself my older brother," Anakin explained.

"So this is one big happy jedi family then, huh," Owen commented.

"Pretty much," Anakin told him.

"Does Master Yoda know about him being here?" Minga asked.

"Why wouldn't he?" Anakin asked.

"Because you have a tendicy to break the rules," Minga reminded him.

"Well, only when I don't agree with them. I talked to Master Yoda yesterday and he gave his okay," Anakin told her.

"So what were your plans today then?" Minga asked.

"We _were_ heading to the archives before you interrupted us and dragged me here," Anakin told her pulling his tunics back on.

"Well, then I'll just let you go, I have work to do here," Minga told him.

"You never answered my question," Anakin told her, fastening his belt and tucking his duel bladed lightsaber up in it's secure spot up his sleeve before hooking his other one on his belt.

"What question is that?" Minga asked.

"How did you hear about my incision opening up?" he asked.

"I ran into Obi-Wan last night, he said something about thinking that you were hurt," Minga told him.

"I told him that I was fine," Anakin said.

"You were clutching your side, he could feel the pain radiating off of you in waves," Minga told him.

"Looks like I need to shield better around him then," Anakin grumbled.

"Go to the archives," Minga told him.

"Gladly," Anakin said leaving.

"He's always like this isn't he?" Owen asked.

"Pretty much, but he'll grow on you, just as he always does," Minga told him.

Owen nodded before fallowing Anakin.

Once they reached the archives Owen's jaw dropped when he saw how huge it was. Anakin quickly elbowed him in the side and he shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it," he said.

"It is impressive. There isn't an archives quite as large as this anywhere else. I just hope Jocasta Nu wasn't alerted to my little experiment and I'm not banned from here for a while," Anakin said.

"Why would that be?" Owen asked.

"Because I used the archive analysis room to perform it. It's usually controlled by droids, but I built half the droids in this temple, so all the droids like me for some reason," Anakin explained as they walked further into the archives. "The console screens should give us most of the information that we'll need. But before we go there, let me show you where the agriculture section is, There you'll find some things on moisture farming," he said and lead Owen to the far right corner of the archives.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dirthmar had once again invited Chora to dine with him in his private dining room. This would be the night when he would finish his seduction. This would be the night where he would take Chora as he had taken Joran, his assassin who mysteriously disappeared. Yes this would be it. Dirthmar didn't look up when he smelled her scent as she entered the room quietly. "I hope you find tonights menu to be pleasurable," he said at last.

"It depends on what you mean by pleasurable," Siri said walking to the table where a servant was pouring Alderaanian wine. The servant handed Siri the glass which she quickly tested for poison.

"It's not poisoned," Dirthmar told her.

"I'd prefer to test it in any case," Siri told him satisfied with the results. She then took a sip savoring the taste. Once she was satisfied the servants left leaving her alone with Dirthmar.

Dirthmar stood up and walked over to her. "You know it's only matter of time before we have an opening to get to Skywalker. He'll slip up again and let his guard down soon," he said picking up one her hands and messaging it.

"And our partnership will be over," Siri told him pulling her hand out of his.

Dirthmar leaned in closer to her. "They'll be other jobs," he told her. "We could make this a permanent partnership," he said pulling her towards him.

Siri breathed in the amount of pheromones that he was producing and moved to walk away. "I'm not interested in anything permanent Dirthmar," she told him.

Dirthmar gripped Siri in place against him. He ran his hands up and down her body, he could feel her trying to struggle against him. Her mind was against it but her body told him otherwise. Her body wanted him just as much as he wanted her. She couldn't resist him for long. Her physical needs will overrule her minds objections. Since he began his partnership with the mysterious Chora, he felt the need to sedate his own physical needs. He wanted her body. Until he had her to himself, until he tasted her sweetness, no other female would do. Oh she was feisty, yet in control and he loved that in women. Joran was the same way until she mysteriously disappeared. Joran was young, feisty, in control and oh so satisfying. Oh could Joran scream over and over again. Dirthmar wondered how Chora would scream once he brought her to ecstasy. Tonight would be the night when both of their physical needs would be satisfied.

"Why fight it Chora? You want me as much as I want you, I could give you something that you would never forget," he told her huskily.

"I don't want you," Siri told him trying to fight it. But the pheromones were too much. They invaded her every senses and left her clouded. She closed her eyes as Dirthmar leaned his head in closer and began licking and suckling her neck sending her skin into a wild frenzy. She didn't want to do this, not with him. Her desire ran for only one man. What would Obi-Wan say or do if he knew about this? she couldn't do this to him.

"Sweet feisty Chora, do you realize what you do to me?" Dirthmar said against her neck. His hands rested on her hips pulling them hard against his.

Siri gasped as she felt the hard bulge pressed against her sending her senses in a frenzy. Oh it felt so good. It would feel oh so much better inside of her where it belonged. The pheromones had grown stronger clouding her mind. On their own accord, her arms wrapped themselves around Dirthmar's neck and before she could stop herself, her hips rubbed slowly but desperately against his. There was too much clothes between them. Dirthmar smiled against her neck as he grabbed her thighs wrapping them around him, lowering her against the cold hard table where he proceeded in pealing off her tight black leather outfit. He was going to teach her what passion was really like.

* * *


	33. The Shroud of The Dark Side Has Fallen

_**Okay for starters I figured out a soundtrack for the story that I suggest you listen to the songs, waves hand you will listen to them while reading the story stops waving hand. Okay with that said here is the sound track...**_

_**Lacuna Coil**_

_**Heaven's a lie**_

_**Humane**_

_**Tight rope**_

_**Entwined**_

_**The ghost woman and the hunter**_

_**Comalies**_

_**Within me**_

_**In visible light**_

_**Evanescnce**_

_**Farther away**_

_**Lies**_

_**Missing**_

_**Breath no more**_

_**Snow white queen**_

_**Haunted**_

_**Whisper**_

_**My last breath**_

_**Taking over me**_

_**Tourniquet**_

**_Seal- Kiss from a rose._**

_**Now with that over and done with, I have a story challenge for any of you who would like to start it. It's a story of what if. What if Luke went into the Imperial Academy along with Biggs Darklighter? Message me for further info on the story if you are interested in writing it.**_

_**Now onto the story,**_

_**Charlie.**_

* * *

_You walk on by  
without feeling to your stroll_

You walk alone

Compromise  
it's just another contradiction  
You're not alone

There's a place  
you've run away  
that is in your heart  
it is in your heart

In your heart  
Your love again

There's a place to be afraid  
There's another chain to hold  
and you don't know

You need it by your side  
just let him know

Your hell is when you dream  
and I'm awake

Look into your heart  
Deep into your heart

In your heart  
Your love again

There is none for  
Love is not afraid

In your heart  
Your love again 

Obi-Wan Kenobie was surprised to learn of Owen Lars' visit to Coruscant. When he learned of Anakin's step brother's visit, he decided to stear clear of the two step-brother's way not feeling lke getting in the middle of another fight. Force knows that he had enough tention between the two while on Tatooine. But then he ran into the two at the temple and Obi-Wan was suprised to see Owen Lars in the temple and to see Owen and Anakin getting along. Then he recieved the shock. Owen wasn't Anakin's step brother but rather his brother. Shmi Skywalker had adopted Owen Lars when she married Cliegg Lars. In that week that the two brothers spent together, Obi-Wan gave them the space needed knowing that it was important to Anakin. But the day before Owen left for his home on Tatooine with the two brothers promising to see each other soon.

Obi-Wan had just recieved a summons from Master Yoda for himself and Anakin to report to his quarters. So here he was searching for Anakin again due to the fact that his commlink being turned off again. He walked into the archives and quickly spotted Anakin sitting at a console screen. He walked up to him and placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder but he got no reaction out of him like he normally did when his former padawan was deep in concentration. "Master Yoda has requested that we meet with him," he said.

"I know," Anakin told him without looking up from the console.

It was then that Obi-Wan noticed what Anakin was looking at and frowning at. It wasn't the first time that he thought that Anakin was obsessed with the chancellor all of sudden. Since Anakin had found out about Chancellor Palpatine's identity as a sith lord, he had become obsessed with stopping him, at all costs. "I don't understand your need to know all about the chancellor's history, you were friends with him, surely he has told you some things that isn't known to the republic," he said.

Anakin shook his head. "He was manipulating me all this time, He never spoke of his background. It's odd though. There's nothing about his past. In fact to all records, there is no trace of him before he became senator of Naboo. It's as though he didn't exist until then," he told him.

Obi-Wan leaned in closer at that, "Curious. Do you think that his name really is Vincent Palpatine?" he asked.

Anakin looked at him. "I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that Vincent Palpatine didn't exist until he was elected to represent Naboo in the senate. Do you think that he was raised by the sith? It could explain why the jedi didn't sense him, with his force abilities, the council should have found him and brought him to the temple," he said.

"Don't forget Anakin, you weren't sensed for your abilities until you were nine," Obi-Wan pointed out.

"The republic doesn't exist on Tatooine," Anakin said and then his eyes lit up. "You think the sith has been hiding in the outer rim all this time?" he asked.

"It's a possibility," Obi-Wan said. "Come, we can discuss this with Master Yoda," he added.

"Yes Master," Anakin said giving Obi-Wan a quick smile before downloading all the information he found into a datadisk.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"An assignment I have for you two," Master Yoda told them once they were seated in his quarters.

"What sort of assignment, Master?" Obi-Wan asked.

"To gather support for us in other systems. Without their support survive we will not. An army we need to stop the clones. Gathered sixty systems already Skywalker has," Master Yoda said to them.

Obi-Wan looked over to Anakin and saw that his former padawan had already known of this. "To defeat the clones we will need a large army," he said finally.

"Not necessarily. All we need is an army that can strategize. In the future, the rebel alliance is only ten percent as large as the empire's, yet they win the fight against the empire," Anakin pointed out.

"Cannot think but follow orders a clone does. A flaw it is. An army we need to come up with a strategy for the date provided for our elimination. Practice they will for the time we need them the most. Careful we must be for if Lord Sidious knows of our army too soon, eliminated we surely will be," Master Yoda said and sighed. "To Kashyyyk I will go, good relations with the wookiees I have, fight with us they will," he added.

"Master, does the council know of this?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Know of the danger we are in, they do. An announcement to the order I will make. In grave danger we are. Know of this threat we all must," Master Yoda told them. He sighed again. "Changes I must make, changes that the order must have if we are to continue to move on from the sith. Too small the order is to fight the sith should they grow in numbers. Yes, changes I must make," he told them.

"Master do you really think that the sith could grow?" Obi-Wan asked fearful.

"The future, hard to see it is," Master Yoda told them.

"Isn't a part of the prophecy that I should destroy the sith?" Anakin asked.

"The prophecy of the son of suns hard to read it is. Means a great many things it does," Master Yoda told them. He then looked pointedly at Anakin, "Need to read it you do," he said pointing at him.

"Yes Master," Anakin said.

"Tomorrow, I have called the order to alert to announce them of the grave danger they are in. We must be careful around the clones. The day after you both shall leave for Corellia to gather their help," Master Yoda told them.

"Yes Master," Both Obi-Wan and Anakin replied.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

_Anakin was thrown into a cell under Gardulla's palace. In the other cell he could hear the other's screaming. But none were more pronounced than his mother's screams. Little Anakin curled himself into a ball hoping that the screaming would stop. Suddenly the door to his cell opened up and a pig like creature walked in with several torture devices. Anakin palled at seeing them. _

"_Please don't hurt me," he cried. _

_It was then that Gardulla herself came in and gave her orders for what was to be done with him. Anakin cried in fear when he heard what was to be done with him. He knew by now that crying only made things worse but he couldn't help himself. The pig like creature came forward and began to whip him making him cry more. From then on the punishments had gotten worse._

_The pain stopped and Anakin opened his eyes. He was no longer in a cell under Gardulla's palace. He was in a cave of some sort. He could still hear his mother's screams of pain. He rushed through the cave searching for his mother but he couldn't find her. Finally he found the mouth of the cave where a swoop bike was waiting. He jumped on following his mother's screams of pain coming to a cliff overlooking a village. He jumped off of the swoop bike and off of the cliff, careful to to draw attention to himself. He used his lightsaber to cut a hole in one of the huts. Inside he found his mother tied up to a rough looking tangle of branches. He quickly untied her. He took her into his arms, and lowered her gently to the ground. Her eyes were closed. Her face was bloodied. She had been terribly beaten. Anakin cradled her tenderly._

_"Mom... Mom... Mom..." he said _

_Shmi's eyelids flutter ed- and barely opened. They were caked with blood. "Ani...? Is it you?" her eyes focused slowly._

_"I'm here, Mom. You're safe. Hang on. I'm going to get you out of here..." Anakin told her_

_"I'm so glad... to see you, Ani... Now... I am complete..." Shmi told him using her strength to cares his cheek._

_"Just stay with me, Mom. I'm going to make you well again. Everything's going to be fine," Anakin said._

_"You look so handsome. My son...my grown-up son. I'm so proud of you, Ani... so proud... I missed you so much... I love..." Shmi said._

_"I missed you too Mom," Anakin told her kissing her palm._

_"I love..." were her last words before she died. Anakin closed her eyes and cradled her dead body close to him refusing to cry._

_"I won't lose you the way I lost my mother! I've become more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of and I've done it for you. To protect you," He told her. He was telling her the truth. Didn't she see this? It was all for her._

_"Come away with me. Help me raise our child. Leave everything else behind while we still can," Padme begged trying to convince him that what he was doing is wrong. He would hear none of it. He wasn't leaving and neither was she._

_"Don't you see, we don't have to run away anymore. I have brought peace to the Republic. I am more powerful than the Chancellor. I can overthrow him, and together you and I can rule the galaxy. Make things the way we want them to be," He said trying to convince her that he was right. He knew that her love for the Republic would keep her at his side. She had to see reason._

_"I don't believe what I'm hearing . . . Obi-Wan was right. You've changed," Padme said backing away from him. He frowned. Obi-Wan was turning her against him. She was going to leave him. He wont let her._

_"I don't want to hear any more about Obi-Wan. The Jedi turned against me. Don't you turn against me!" He told her now pacing like a caged animal. Somehow he had to convince her to stay. Even if it mean by using force and locking her up._

_"I don't know you anymore. Anakin, you're breaking my heart. I'll never stop loving you, but you are going down a path I can't follow," Padme told him backing away from him. She was repulsed. Because of Obi-Wan! She could be repulsed all she wanted but she wasn't going anywhere. She'll be by his side no matter what._

_Suddenly a figure emerged from the ship and He looked up. "Because of Obi-Wan?" he said coming to a conclusion. They were in it together. She was with him! She betrayed him!_

_"Because of what you've done . . . what you plan to do. Stop, stop now. Come back! I love you!" Padme told him. He would hear no more of her lies. She had betrayed him!_

_"LIER!" He shouted. Padme turned around and saw Obi-Wan standing in the doorway of the Naboo Cruiser. He saw the panic on her face. She knew she was caught!_

_"No!" she yelled panicking._

_"You're with him. You've betrayed me! You brought him here to kill me!" He shouted._

_"NO! Anakin. I swear ... I ...," Padme started to say but He thrust out his hand force chocking her. Padme grabbed her throat as she started to choke. He would hear no more of her lies!_

_Suddenly there was cackling laughter followed by Sidious' voice, "You cannot escape your destiny" it said. _

"Ani wake up!" Padme called shaking Anakin, but he continued to toss in turn in a fitful sleep. "Anakin!" she yelled. Suddenly Anakin shot up in bed breathing heavily. "Are you okay?" she asked worried.

Anakin slowly came to his senses and looked at her. "I need to go to the temple," he said getting out of bed.

"Anakin what is it?" Padme asked as Anakin rushed about getting dressed.

"I can't tell you. It's jedi business," he told her not being entirely truthful. The dream was too vivid. Sidious' voice still rang through his head. He needed to make sense of it.

"It's serious isn't it?" Padme asked clearly worried.

"I hope not," Anakin told her before leaving.

Padme watched him go feeling that she was watching her husband slip further away from her and there was nothing that she could do about it. She brought her knees up to her chest and wept. Will they ever have a normal life? Could she be loosing her husband?

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"Something troubling you there is?" Master Yoda asked as he walked up to Anakin leaning heavily on his gimer stick.

Anakin stood looking into one of the fountains in the room of a thousand fountains. "I don't know how long I can let the charade go on Master. The longer he stays alive, the more I feel like I'm slipping," Anakin confessed.

"Not right the time is. When it is you will know. Hard it is this path you are following. Doubt yourself many times you will," Master Yoda said. He then sighed. "Strong this hold is on you. The dark side beckons you. Escape it you will. Forever fight it you will. The curse of the chosen one it is," he said regretfully.

"I'm not sure what else I can do to fight it Master," Anakin told him.

"Know what is right you will, recognize the dark side you do," Master Yoda told him

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"Something is troubling you again isn't there," Obi-Wan said as he sat down across from Anakin in the cafeteria.

Anakin stirred his porridge remembering his time on Tatooine with Luke. He briefly wondered if he were truly meant to be a father at this point. Finally he looked up at his friend. "I just can't wait until I can stop Sidious that's all," he said.

"It's only a matter of time. When he reveals himself then we'll know. But until then we still have Count Dooku to deal with. We can't forget him, he is a sith too," Obi-Wan told him.

"I think that we should get rid of Dooku first. Without Dooku, Sidious will be looking for a new apprentice," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan leaned back as he realized where Anakin was getting at. "Sidious will be vulnerable then. I see your point. Our first priority is Dooku, then we'll stop Sidious," he said.

Anakin smirked. "The Skywalker/Kenobi team, we never fail do we," he said.

"Who ever said that it's Skywalker/Kenobi. Don't forget, I'm the master, it's Kenobi/Skywalker," Obi-Wan said.

"Yes, but I still always end up saving your but which makes it Skywalker/Kenobi," Anakin argued.

"Six times. Only six times Anakin," Obi-Wan told him.

"Seven times. Cato Nemoidia _does_ count, Master," Anakin told him firmly.

"Six times and you know very well that that business on Cato Nemoidia _doesn't_ count," Obi-Wan said strictly.

Anakin smiled keeping his laughter to himself as he remembered that little incident. He almost forgot about everything that was going on around him. It was times like these that he hoped to hold onto.

"Mind if I sit down or do you two have more pressing issues to discuss like female Twi'leks?"

Both Anakin and Obi-Wan looked up to see Minga standing over the table with a tray of food in her hands. "The more the merrier," Anakin said.

"So what were you two discussing?" Minga asked as she sat down.

"Business," Anakin told her.

"Sounds official. Does it have anything to do with Master Yoda's announcement or something else all together?" Minga asked.

"Not really, it's just something that I have to do myself," Anakin told her but looked Obi-Wan in the eye when he said the last part.

Obi-Wan looked at him with worry at that. He had no intention of letting Anakin do this himself, not now, not with Vader lurking behind the shadows.

"Well, something is up if Master Yoda is giving this huge announcement. The whole order is supposed to meet in briefing room 22409 when the morning meal is over. Whatever it is it can't be good," Minga said.

"I know," Anakin whispered.

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Master Yoda thumped his gimer stick against the floor to quiet the jedi gathered in the briefing room. Once they quieted down he moved over to the podium. "Grave news I have for you. Grave news indeed. Come to my attention it has that we are all in danger. The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Has been lurking in the shadows the sith have, waiting for their revenge. With great sadness I have to announce the identity of the sith lord we have been looking for. Fooled we have been. But none so greater than our own Young Skywalker!" Master Yoda said and looked over to where Anakin stood ready to give the evidence he needed to give. Anakin nodded indicating that he should go on.

"In a terrible spot the republic is for it's own leader is a dark lord of the sith," Master Yoda announced.

There was a loud cry of outrage and disbelief at those words. Master Yoda thumped his gimer stick again, louder this time. "Our time to act is not now. Take it upon yourself to act you will not! Tell no one of what you have learned you will. Careful we must be for if Lord Sidious know we are on to him, strike before it is time he will. Watch out for the clones you will! Created for our destruction they were!" he said strictly.

Mace turned away from Master Yoda to look at Anakin and Obi-Wan. He knew that they were hiding something more. He knew that they were up to something along with Master Yoda, something even more dangerous. Whatever it was it had to do with Darth Vader. He could tell by the firm set of Anakin's jaw and shoulders. There was a lot more. He needed to know how exactly Anakin knew what was going on. How did they know that the entire order was in danger? There was a piece to the puzzle missing. He was determined to find out exactly what it was.

Lexus Jhon stood up then. "Master Yoda, what evidence do you have to support this?" he asked.

"Show you the evidence you will need Young Skywalker will," Master Yoda said.

With that Anakin stepped forward to present the evidence. He took a deep breath determined not to let the order's attention get to him as he presented the evidence. As he explained what he found he was constantly interrupted by angry outbursts and questions. He used the force for patience all the while waiting for this to be over.

* * *

_**Well, There really wasn't anything more that I wanted to write for this chapter. Sorry it's so short. It'll be better next chapter. **_


	34. Mission to Corellia

Okay so we meet someone from the original trilogy in here and learn some background on them. I hope you like...

Charlie.

* * *

"Why exactly are you going back to Corellia?" Padme asked the next morning as Anakin got ready for his mission. She sat on the bed under the covers with her knees drawn up to her chest watching him move about the room.

"We need all the support we could get. The larger the army is the better chance we have to fight the clones," Anakin told her.

Padme nodded. The thought of loosing Anakin in this war had been on her mind since it started, but now it was becoming clearer that Anakin was in the fight for his life. She wondered how she would make it if Anakin _did_ die. She shuddered to herself at the thought.

Anakin noticed this. "Are you okay?" he asked concerned.

Padme gave him a bright smile. "Just come back to me in one piece," she said as she always did.

"I will, I promise," Anakin told her before leaning over the bed to kiss her.

Padme cupped the back of his neck not ready for the kiss to end just yet. Finally it was time to say goodbye and her hand slid over to his cheek. "I love you," she whispered.

Anakin smiled at her. "I know," he said and gave her another quick kiss. "I love you too," he whispered before picking up his bag to leave.

Padme watched him go and hugged her knees closer to her chest. When he was gone she rested her forehead against them before laying on her side curled up. What would she do if she lost him? Somehow she felt that things have changed. But she was unsure if this change was for the better or if it were for the worse.

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Siri sat up in bed looking out to Coruscant. She was such a long way away from the temple. It has been five and a half months since she started her investigation. Five and a half months she had to work with Dirthmar and she still hasn't gotten anywhere. She was beginning to wonder if there was any real threat to Skywalker's life. Maybe this was all one big sick joke. But she couldn't just dismiss it. Obi-Wan and Master Yoda believed that the sith are involved. But so far there wasn't really anyone she could arrest but Dirthmar. If she arrested Dirthmar then she'll never know who had hired him. She took a sip from the jug of jawa juice she had. For a month it was all she could hold down. Doing what she had done had sickened her that much. Finally she was beginning to feel claustrophobic. She got up and opened the door to her room ready to take a night on the town. But she stopped dead when she saw Dirthmar in her way.

"Skywalker can wait for now, we have a secondary job to do," Dirthmar said.

Siri narrowed her eyes at him. "What kind of job?" she asked.

"It seems as though a certain senator is up to no good. Our boss wants him dead. With that jedi weapon you have we can pin the murder on the jedi therefore making the planet he represents turn away from the republic," Dirthmar explained.

Siri didn't like this idea and she tried to figure out a way to sabotage it. Finally she spoke. "Which senator is this?" she asked.

"A senator from Corellia," Dirthmar said finally.

Corellia. The very planet that can tip the scale in this war. "What's the plan?" she asked.

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"Have everything you need do you?" Master Yoda asked as he stood in the temple hanger with Anakin and Obi-Wan.

"Yes Master," Anakin and Obi-Wan coursed.

"Luck I give to you. Success in gaining Corellia's aid important it is," Master Yoda said.

"We shouldn't be long Master. With the evidence we have, I am certain that we will have Corellia's aid," Obi-Wan said.

"Evidence is one thing, trust is another," Master Yoda said. "Go now, put off this mission has been enough," Master Yoda told them.

Both Obi-Wan and Anakin bowed to him before getting into their respective starfighters. Master Yoda watched as the two starfighters lifted up into the air and disappeared from sight. These trying times were enough for the aging jedi master to give up. But he remained strong. For those around him, he needed to remain strong. Especially for Anakin Skywalker. The chosen one needed him more than he was willing to admit.

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When Anakin and Obi-Wan landed on Corellia in the royal hanger they were greeted by King Mathias and his royal guard. Surprisingly enough the sixteen year old Princess Makayla had accompanied the king. As Anakin and Obi-Wan got closer he realized the the princess had the same regal baring as Padme had as queen. Quite different than her sister. Both Obi-Wan and Anakin bowed to the king and princess.

"Master Kenobi, Knight Skywalker, Corellia welcomes you," Princess Makayla said.

"I have to admit that I was quite surprised to hear from Master Yoda himself to inform us of your arrival. He mentioned that you have some rather urgent news for us," King Mathias said as they moved out of the hanger and into the palace.

"Our being here is very important your majesty," Obi-Wan said

"Does it have anything to do with the war?" Princess Makayla asked.

Anakin looked over at the princess who walked by her father's side. Sure she wore an elaborate silver and lavender dress and hairstyle with jewels like every royal, sure she had that regal air. But she wasn't like her sister. She had depth, he could sense it. She cared about the common good. He nodded. "It does," he affirmed.

Princess Makayla nodded. "Then Corellia will do our best to help aid the republic in the war," she said.

King Mathias turned to her. "Yes, well said Daughter," he said. He turned to the two jedi. "We have prepared quarters for you for your stay here," he said.

"That is most kind of you," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin looked at him briefly before turning to the king. "Do you really think that our meeting will take that long?" he asked.

"Knight Skywalker, I am not a simple man, every decision I make must be for the good of my people first before anything else. I must weigh my options. Whatever you may ask, I must take into consideration for the good of my people. Therefore it may take that long," King Mathias said.

Anakin nodded. "Of course your majesty, I understand," he said.

"We should allow you to get settled before we discuss anything," Princess Makayla said.

"Yes, yes, we will allow you to get settled for the night, tomorrow we will sit down and discuss the situation," King Mathias said. He motioned to a servant to come forward. She did and quickly curtsied to the king and princess.

"Yes your highness?" the female servant asked.

"Show Knight Skywalker and Master Kenobi to their rooms," King Mathias said.

"Yes your highness," the servant said curtsying again.

"If you excuse us, we have a meeting with the royal advisers to attend to," King Mathias said.

"We shall see you at the evening meal," Princess Makayla said just before she and the king walked off.

"I think I like Princess Makayla more than Princess Jasmine," Anakin said to Obi-Wan.

"You'll not here this a lot Anakin, but I think you have the right idea," Obi-Wan told him.

"If I may speak," the servant said. Both Obi-Wan and Anakin turned to her. "I think all of Corellia likes Princess Makayla more than Princess Jasmine. It is a good thing that Princess Makayla is the heir to the throne. She has the heart of a ruler," she said.

"What is your name?" Anakin asked.

The servant smiled. "I'm Willa," she said, "Willa Jixton," she finished. "My mother is the palace housekeeper and my father is a member of the Corellian navy," she told them.

Anakin nodded. "It is a pleasure meeting you Miss Jixton," he said.

Willa blushed slightly before turning away. "The king has asked me to show you to your rooms. If you'll follow me, it's this way," she said.

Obi-Wan shook his head knowing that Anakin was oblivious to Willa's attraction to him as he always was. He and Anakin followed Willa through the palace until finally about thirty minutes later, they stopped at a set of doors.

"Queen Aphrodite has ordered that you stay in the diplomatic suit," Willa said opening one of the doors and continuing into the suit.

Anakin followed first and was closely followed by Obi-Wan. Anakin was used to luxury but Obi-Wan wasn't. He felt uncomfortable in such luxury as the palace diplomatic suit.

"Everything that you might need, you can find quite easily. There are two bedrooms each with an adjourning refresher down the hall," Willa told them. "The comm station is over there," she said pointing to a desk. "I'll just leave you to get settled, another servant will come by to announce the evening meal," she finished. She left before either jedi could say a word, but not before one last look at Anakin and blushing.

"Well it looks like you have a new admirer," Obi-Wan commented once Willa was gone.

Anakin turned to him sharply. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I believe that Miss Jixton has a crush on you," Obi-Wan informed him.

"You don't know what you're talking about, the girl can't be any more than fourteen!" Anakin said.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "And how old were you when you started liking Padme?" he asked.

"I was nine, but that's different. Boys and girls are a lot different. Boy's develop emotionally faster than girls," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan shook his head again. "I think you have that last part backwards," he said. "You'll see one day when you have kids," he added with a chuckle.

"What to make a bet on that?" Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan smiled to himself. "I want fifty credits when I'm proven right," he said.

"And when you're wrong, you have to do everything that I say for two weeks," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan smiled to himself. In the future Anakin would make him fifty credits richer. "You know, I just thought of something, how are we going to keep the royal advisers from leaking this army to the chancellor?" he said as the thought struck him.

Anakin frowned as he thought about this before turning and walking over to the comm station. He sat down and dialed a number sequence. Instantly Padme's face appeared on the comm screen. He face broke out in a smile.

"Ani!" She called happily. "This a surprise," she said.

"I wish this was personal, Padme but I need to ask you something," Anakin said.

Padme frowned. "About what?" she asked.

"If the senate votes for something, the chancellor has to go along with it, doesn't he?" Anakin asked.

"Why yes. It's the reason we have a senate. The chancellor is mostly a figurehead. He's there to keep order and make negotiations. It's the senate that has the real power," Padme explained.

Anakin looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't think we can keep this army a secret much longer. I think the delegation should vote for it's creation, would the rest of he senate go along with it?" he finally said.

"There shouldn't be a problem. If the delegation presented it's case to the senate, I'm sure that we could get the votes. Many in the senate disagrees with the use of clones to fight for the republic," Padme told him.

"When the vote is made, make sure that the jedi are put in charge of this army, I'll contact Master Yoda and fill him in," Anakin told her.

"I'll do my best," Padme told him.

"I know you will, I love you," Anakin told her.

"I love you too Ani, be safe," Padme said.

Anakin smiled. "I'm always safe," he told her reassuringly.

Padme frowned. "I worry about you, Anakin," she told him.

"There's nothing to worry about. My plans will work, we'll all be safe to live our lives. You'll see," Anakin reassured her.

"Anakin, I suggest you cut this short, I sense someone coming," Obi-Wan said standing over Anakin's shoulder.

Padme looked at him through the comm screen. "You will make sure that he'll come back in one piece, wont you Obi-Wan?" she asked.

"Anakin is my brother, Padme, Nothing will happen on my watch. I can assure you," Obi-Wan told her.

"You talk as though I'm a child," Anakin said flatly.

"We care about you, Ani, we don't want anything to happen to you. I don't know what I would do if I lost you," Padme told him.

"You won't loose me, Padme, I promise you," Anakin told her. He quickly turned towards the door before turning to her. "I have to go before someone finds us talking," he said quickly.

Padme nodded and gave Anakin a brave smile. "Be careful," she said before she signed off.

Anakin stood up and away from the comm station just as the doors opened up and a servant, the housekeeper by the looks of it came in. She took one look at the two jedi and bowed.

"Master Kenobi, Knight Skywalker. I am Mrs. Jixton. I manage the palace household," she said introducing herself.

Anakin quickly looked her over sensing no ill feeling from the woman. She looked to be in her forties. Her dark brown hair which was streaked with gray was pulled back in three severe buns and she wore a black gown.

"You need not introduce yourself Milady," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin moved to stand next to him. "You've come for a reason?" he said watching her carefully.

Mrs. Jixton nodded. "Yes. His majesty has decided in a change of plans. He wishes to start the negotiations now rather than tomorrow morning. He has asked for me to fetch you," she said.

Anakin turned to Obi-Wan and whispered, "I sense no duplicity," he said.

Obi-Wan glanced at him and replied, "Unexpected for the king to change his mind, we must be on guard," he whispered.

Anakin nodded before turning back to Mrs. Jixton who waited expectantly. "We must speak to the king alone," he said.

Mrs. Jixton raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm afraid the the king doesn't make any negotiations without his advisers," she said.

Before Anakin could say anything Obi-Wan spoke up. "We can make due. Anakin, collect the documents," he said.

"As you wish, Master," Anakin said walking over to his bag where he pulled out a folder containing each datadisc. "Where shall we be meeting with the king?" he asked.

"In the throne room," Mrs. Jixton said turning away and walking out of the door.

Anakin and Obi-Wan followed her a few steps back so that whatever they said it was out of her earshot.

"I don't like this," Anakin said.

"There are many things that you don't like Anakin. In the future you will find even more," Obi-Wan said causing Anakin to look at him sharply. "I don't like this either. We don't know where the king's advisers loyalties are," he added.

"Hopefully we can sense it before we go into detail," Anakin said.

When they arrived at the throne room Mrs. Jixton held the door open for them and they walked in. The king sat in the throne with Princess Makayla at his side. Around the circular table sat seven of the king's advisers. Each watched as the two jedi walked into the room. There was a silent and tense moment as both Anakin and Obi-Wan sensed each man's thoughts and loyalties.

"There are some missing," Anakin whispered.

"Yes, quite a bit of them are missing," Obi-Wan agreed seeing the several empty seats.

"I've asked only my most trusted advisers to sit in on this," King Mathias said once the doors were closed. "You need not worry about anyone in this room being disloyal to the jedi. Every man in this room has a family member within the order," he finished.

"Yes, we cane sense that. It is good thing for that since the heart of this matter concerns the survival of the jedi," Obi-Wan said stepping further into the room.

Anakin lay the folder on the table. "We would not be here if we did not need your help," he said.

"Knight Skywalker, what help could mere men be to the jedi?" on of the men asked.

"Once you have gone over the evidence we have brought you, you will understand," Anakin said.

"What we are about to share with you must not leave this room," Obi-Wan said taking a seat. Anakin remained standing.

"What is this all about?" King Mathias asked.

"We are in need of an army to fight in this war," Anakin said.

"But you have an army! Isn't the clone army sufficient?" Another man asked.

"The clone army reports directly to the chancellor and follows his orders," Obi-Wan said. "Anakin show them what you have found."

Anakin pressed his fingertip against the lock of the folder opening it up and pulled out the datadiscs. "I'm afraid that we cannot trust Chancellor Palpatine. His planes for after the war are not of those for the Republic, but his own Empire," he said feeding a datadisc into the computer on the table. Instantly on everyone's screens the information on the disc showed up.

"Preposterous!" one man cried. "Where did you get these?" he demanded.

"Chancellor Palpatine's apartment," Anakin answered him. "If you notice that the only mention of the jedi is under Order 66, I suggest you read that first," he told them.

"How could he disband the jedi order? I can't see any of the jedi taking kindly to that." another man asked.

"Sir, Chancellor Palpatine doesn't plan on disbanding the order, he plans to use the clones to kill us," Obi-Wan told him calmly.

Princess Makayla looked at her father fearfully. "Papa, Martain!" she cried, her hand coming up to her mouth in fear.

King Mathias placed a hand over his daughters and squeezed. "Nothing will come to your brother, daughter," he said.

Princess Makayla looked over at the two jedi. "What can we do to stop it?" she asked seeming to calm down.

"That, your highness if what this new army is for. The clones were created for our destruction, but in light of this new evidence, we are starting an army to destroy them," Obi-Wan said.

The king nodded. "I think it is best if you gave us some time to properly look through this information you have presented to us. Until then we cannot make a decision. I'm sorry, but we must make an informed decision," he said.

"We understand. An informed decision is always necessary," Obi-Wan said standing up.

"We know that you will make the right decision," Anakin added handing over the rest of the datadiscs to the king. "Those are your own copies to keep, I suggest that you keep them closely guarded," he said looking pointedly at the king before he and Obi-Wan left.

Once outside the throne room Anakin turned to Obi-Wan. "That went well. A little too well," he said.

"You're being paranoid Anakin. Every man in that room has a family member in the order. Put yourself in that situation, what would you do?" Obi-Wan told him.

"I would do the right thing regardless if I had a family member in the order," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Not everyone is like you, Anakin. Honor is very different for everybody," he said. "Come, lets get some fresh air. I could use to get out of such luxury as this palace."

"I'll pilot into the city," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan palled. "I really don't think that is necessary Anakin," he said.

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The city of Coronet was a modern city built within the foundations of the ancient planets capital. It truly was a sight to see the mix of ancient stone and bits of Coruscant. The palace itself stood out of place. It's rough stone walls clashed with the modern city. It was a sight to be seen by day, but Anakin could feel that by night it would be quite different. Outside the shops in the shopping district were stands filled with displays of things such as food and trinkets.

"You know I think you were right, walking was a good idea." Anakin said.

"I prefer walking to sitting in a speeder that you're piloting," Obi-Wan said.

"What are you talking about? I'm a great pilot," Anakin said slightly miffed.

"I swear that sometimes you want to put me into an early grave when you pilot the speeders," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin looked at him sharply. "I don't want you to die, Master," she said sharply. "I don't like it when you say things like that," he said turning away.

Obi-Wan looked over at him regretting his words. "I'm sorry Anakin. I..." he began but Anakin help up his hand silencing and nodded to one of the food stands. He looked over in time to see a small grubby hand reach up from under the tablecloth to grab a piece of food. The movement was so fast, that if it weren't for their being jedi they wouldn't have noticed it.

Anakin walked over to the stand and picked up an apple, he grabbed the stand operator's attention. "How much for five of these apples?" he asked.

"They're a dozen for twelve credits," the stand operator told him.

"I only want five of them, look, since they're a dozen for twelve credits, then I'll just give you five credits for five apples," Anakin said.

"If you want some apples, you have to buy a dozen," The stand operator told him flatly.

"Hey, lets be reasonable. I only want five of them," Anakin told him.

"They're a dozen a pack, you can't just buy five of them," the stand operator said pointing to a sign.

"Look, I'll make you a deal, I'll buy five apples and pay for what ever this little boy has picked off of your stand," Anakin said grabbing the small grubby wrist as it reach for something else to take, pulling out it's owner from under the table.

The stand operator looked at the boy in rage. "You again! I told yer to get out of my sight and never come back, you wretched thief! What I tell yer would happen if I saw yer around here again!" he yelled.

The small boy tried to break free from Anakin's death grip on him. "Let me go!" he yelled and his eyes widened when the stand operator pulled out a knife making a grab for the boy's hand. "Please let me go!" he cried in fear.

Anakin glared at the stand operator. "I'd put that knife down if I were you," he warned.

The stand operator looked at him briefly. "Yer not from around here are ye? You should know that the price for stealing is a finger," he growled.

Before anyone could do anything Anakin pulled out his lightsaber and ignited halting the stand operator in his tracks. "I warned you to put that knife away. Now listen carefully because I will not repeat it. If you even think about cutting anything off of this child or any other I will do the same to you," he said strictly. By now everyone around them paused what they were doing to watch. The stand operator gulped and put the knife away.

"Keep that kid away from my stand," he barked.

"Gladly," Anakin said dropping a few credits on the stand and walked away with the child. Once he rejoined Obi-Wan he bent down to eye level with the child. "What's your name son?" he asked.

The child looked from the direction that they had come and back to him decided that he could trust him. "Han Solo sir," he said.

Anakin did a double take at hearing that name. So this was Han's mysterious past. "Where are you're parents, Han?" he asked.

Han shrugged. "I don't know. They dropped me off in the city four years ago sir," he told him.

Anakin couldn't keep the outrage out of his voice. "And they never came back?" he demanded.

"I don't know," Han told him stiffening up.

Now it all made sense. No wonder Han was always ready to leave. He was abandoned as a child. "So you were stealing food because you were hungry?" he asked. Han nodded. He sighed. "I guess no one has ever told you that stealing is wrong then?" he asked. When Han didn't answer he got his answer. "Well I can't just leave you out here on the streets like this. Look, I'll find you a home, okay. Stick with us okay," he told the child. He looked up to see Obi-Wan watching the exchange with his arms crossed.

"Anakin, I don't think this is the time to pick up strays," Obi-Wan told him.

Han looked between the two. "You're jedi aren't you?" he asked.

Anakin looked back to the boy remembering a time when he asked that same question. He smiled. "What makes you think that?" he asked standing up.

"Your laser sword, only jedi have those and the way you made that man back down, only a jedi can do that!" Han said pride showing on his face at knowing that he was right.

Anakin shared an amused look with Obi-Wan. "You're right, we are jedi. "I'm Anakin Skywalker and my friend here is Obi-Wan Kenobi," he said.

At that Han's eyes got bigger. "No you're not! Why would the hero without fear and the negotiator be here when there's a war going on?" he asked.

Anakin chuckled. "You can ask me about that when you're older and our paths have crossed again," he told him.

"Are you undercover?" Han asked excitedly.

"Anakin, how are we going to explain this boy to the king when we go back to the palace?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I'll think of something," Anakin told him.

"You're taking me to the king?! Mr. Jedi please don't turn me over to the king, I swear I only took the food because I was hungry!" Han cried in fear.

"Calm down, Han. You're not going to be punished," Anakin told him.

Han almost looked at him hopefully. "I'm not?" he asked.

"It would be wrong to punish you for being hungry, Han. Don't ever feel guilty about that," Anakin told him frowning.

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin with that comment sensing that there was more to it. "I think we should head back to the palace," he said at last.

Anakin nodded. "I think you're right," he said and looked down to Han's feet which were barely covered in ripped and worn shoes which pealed away at the toes showing small soars on his feet. "Maybe we could see about finding you a home while at the palace," he said bending down. "In the mean time, it's a long walk and I know those shoes don't protect your feet anymore," he told him.

Han looked down at his feet. "Tis all I've got sir," he said shamefully making Anakin frown.

"Then I guess you'll just need a new pair then," Anakin told him.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan began. "I swear you're worse than Qui-Gon," he muttered shaking his head before continuing. "You can't keep this child, he's not yours to keep," he told him for what seemed to be the ten thousandth time.

Anakin ignored him. "Since you know this city so well, where do you think you can get a new pair of shoes from?" he asked. Obi-Wan sighed. Anakin was never going to stop trying to take in stray children.

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"What is that _thing_ doing in my papa's palace?"

Anakin looked over to see Princess Jasmine standing in their path. He grinned. "Your future husband you highness," he said smartly causing the girl to shriek.

"DADDY!"

Suddenly they were surrounded by nearly half of the king's guards and finally the King himself. "What is it Princess?" King Mathias said relaxing when there was no sign of danger.

Princess Jasmine pointed a finely buffed nail at Han who stood grinning a her. "Tell them to get that _thing_ out of here!" she demanded.

It was then that the king noticed little Han who's grin faded and he ducked his head. "Where did that child come from?" King Mathias asked.

"You're on your own Anakin," Obi-Wan said stepping away.

"Your highness. I found this child trying to steal food because he was hungry. When I asked where his parents were I was informed that he had been abandoned four years ago," Anakin explained.

King Mathias frowned and looked pointedly at Han. "What is your name Son?" he asked.

"Han Solo, Sir," Han told him.

"Do you know where your parents went?" King Mathias asked.

Han looked expectantly at the two jedi hoping that they could help, neither spoke but Anakin nodded at him. He turned back to the king. "No Sir," he said. "I don't even know their names," he confessed.

"Daddy he cannot stay here," Princess Jasmine said tugging on her father's hand.

"Jasmine, go to your rooms, I will discuss this matter later," King Mathias ordered.

"But Daddy!" Princess Jasmine protested.

"Jasmine! That was an order, do not defy me!" King Mathias said sternly.

Princess Jasmine stalked off muttering bitterly. The King turned to the two jedi. "You will look after him while I investigate this matter," he ordered. Then Added, "I'll ask Mrs. Jixton about clothes for the boy after he gets cleaned up a bit," before walking away.

Anakin took Han's hand and smiled reassuringly at the boy. "Lets see about getting you cleaned up then," he said leading the boy to where he and Obi-Wan was staying.

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"Wow, this is so wizard!" Han shouted jumping around the suit. He picked up a gold replica of _Tantive One _ and began playing making soar through the air along with mouthing some 'zoom' sounds. "I'm going to become a great pilot someday!" he announced.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said catching Anakin's arm. "You're growing attached to this child I can sense it," he said. "You can't keep him. It will raise suspicion amongst the council that you do not need right now," he said.

"Don't worry, Master," Anakin said making sure that Han was occupied before pulling Obi-Wan to the far corner. "I've met this child before, only he wasn't a child when I knew him," he whispered looking at Obi-Wan pointedly.

Obi-Wan's eyes widened. "Oh," he said. "Then who is he to you?" he asked.

"My future son-in-law," Anakin told him bluntly.

Obi-Wan looked at him sharply at that. "That little boy...?" he asked. Anakin nodded. "Ah, it makes sense now then doesn't it?" Again Anakin nodded. "Okay, Anakin, I can see that this a personal matter for you now. Do what ever it is that you think is necessary for the boy."

Anakin walked over to the boy and took the gold replica of _Tantive One_ out of Han's hands and put it back in it's place. "You know, I think that you have what it takes to be a great pilot," he told the child.

Han beamed. "You think so?" he asked.

"I'm never wrong," Anakin told him.

"Can I be a jedi?" Han asked.

Anakin frowned. "I'm sorry, Han, but if you had the ability to become a jedi, we would have found you sooner," he told the boy. Han frowned at that. "But," Anakin continued. "When you are old enough, there will be another way that you can serve the Republic and become a great pilot, I promise," he told the boy.

"You're sure?" Han asked.

"I'm working on it now. But keep that between us, okay," Anakin told him.

"You mean like a secret?" Han asked.

Anakin nodded. "Yeah, it'll be our little secret, how does that sound?" he said.

Han grinned. "I like that," he said and then frowned, "Do you make this kind of pact often?" he asked.

Anakin shook his head. "You're the first," he told him.

"Yyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiiiiiippppppppiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Han shouted.

It was then that the doors opened to the suit and Mrs. Jixton walked in carrying some new clothes. "The King had these sent up for the boy so that he could get cleaned up," she said setting the clothes down. She straightened up to face the child who looked at her curiously. Instantly her hand fluttered to her chest.

"You look familiar," Han said frowning.

"Why the child is filthy!" Mrs. Jixton said as a cover up.

Anakin frowned. "Han, buddy, why don't you go get yourself cleaned up, maybe we can shock Princess Jasmine again on how good you clean up," Anakin said.

"Okay Mister Anakin!" Han said grabbing the clothes and running into the refresher.

Mrs. Jixton straightened her skirts. "Well now that is taken care of, I shall see about my other duties," she said moving to leave.

Anakin used the force to lock the doors shut. When Mrs. Jixton whirled on him hand on her chest, Anakin stood up.

"Knight Skywalker will you please unlock that door? When the king hears of this he will not be pleased," Mrs. Jixton said.

"What do you know of Han Solo?" Anakin demanded.

Mrs. Jixton stuttered. "I know next to nothing!" she said.

"You're a terrible lier. You know something, need I remind you that that child has been wondering the streets starving for four years because his parents abandoned him?" Anakin told her flatly.

"I know no one who would do such a thing!" Mrs. Jixton lied.

"Who are you protecting?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I swear to you! I would never protect someone who would abandon their child!" Mrs. Jixton cried.

"Mrs. Jixton, you must tell us what you know," Obi-Wan told her.

Mrs. Jixton sat down with her hand over her heart. "She told me that he had died," she said bewildered and then she became angry. "That selfish spoiled rotten human being! And to think I took her in! Why that little witch played me like a fool, I should have known all along! Well no more!" she yelled.

Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other for a moment before the housekeeper spoke. "Eye, I know who that boy's parents are. Alsneta Jovan Solo is as good as dead to me!"

"And she is...?" Anakin asked.

Mrs. Jixton looked at them sharply, "Was. Was my sister," she said icily.


	35. Failure And Success

So, yeah, this chapter is short, but the ending will keep you guessing on what sidious has planned, one thing is for sure, you'll never guess what it is. Hahaha. I had only figured it out myself.

* * *

Anakin looked at Mrs. Jixton thinking that he hadn't heard her right. "Your sister?" he asked.

"Yes, my ungrateful and incredibly selfish sister," Mrs. Jixton said. "When she told me that little Han had died in a fire four years ago, I took her and that horrid husband of hers in. I never dreamed that she would abandon her child on the streets to starve!"

"I hope that what your sister did wouldn't keep you from taking Han Solo in," Obi-Wan said.

"I'm all done Mister Anakin!" Han said coming out somewhat less grubby wearing the new clothes.

"Child you're still filthy!" Mrs. Jixton said standing up and walking over to the eight and a half year old.

Han looked up at her then. "But I rubbed that white bar over my face and hands!" he said.

"Child you need a bath to get scrubbed clean. Come I will draw you a bath and instruct you," Mrs. Jixton said ushering Han back into the refresher with Han protesting whole heartedly.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said catching his attention. "You do realize that the future will change, Han may not end up with Leia after this," he pointed out.

"Han and Leia will get together, I'll make sure of it," Anakin told him.

"This isn't a thousand years ago, Anakin, you can't choose Leia's husband, you can't force somebody to wed," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin looked at him then. "Who said anything about force?" he asked.

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"You really do look familiar you know. Like I've seen you before," Han said as Mrs. Jixton pulled off his top.

"Eye lad you have seen me before," Mrs. Jixton said.

At that Han perked up. "Really? Where?" he asked.

"Your mother brought you to my house many years ago. You look the same as you did then, that's how I recognized you," Mrs. Jixton told him.

"How did you know my mother?" Han asked.

Mrs. Jixton frowned as she finished getting the child undressed and forced him into the tub. "She was my sister," she finally told him.

"Did she die? Is that why she never came back for me?" Han asked.

Mrs. Jixton didn't know how to answer the poor child. How could she tell him that his parents left him and pretended that he was dead? "_Lies bring nothing but trouble Luvena_," Her mother had always told her.She hoped that this lie wouldn't come back to haunt her. "Eye, she's dead," she told him.

Han looked down at that before he spoke, his voice less chirpy. "What about my father?" he asked.

"No more questions about your parents child, lets continue getting you scrubbed clean," Mrs. Jixton told him.

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Chancellor Palpatine was growing tired of the senator's persistent squabbling. Patience he told himself. Soon he'll be able to turn the republic into his own empire. Soon he will be emperor. Soon the senate will be no more. He chose not to let his true feelings show. He continued with his act of being a true champion of democracy through this war. No one even bothered to think of who was _really_ behind the war. _Who_ had planned it. _Who_ had been feeding information to both sides. He inwardly smiled to himself. His ability to manipulate them all was far greater than his master could have imagined.

"Order! We shall have order!" Mas Amedda pronounced over the senators bickering.

Palpatine stood up when the senators quieted down. Now that this business was over with he decided that a change in topic was in order. "The chair recognizes the senator from Alderaan," he called.

The senate pod consisting of Senator Organa along with Senator Amidala and Senator Mothma floated into the center of the arena. There was silence before Senator Organa spoke. "On behalf of the delegation of 2000, I have noticed a flaw with the clone army! The army was created to defend the republic, yet it has not been able to hold back the separatists droid army efficiently! The clones lack the ability to stratigize or think freely without someone to command them. There for the delegation of 2000 requests that an additional army be created to help aid this war, one not consisting of clones!" Senator Organa announced.

Palpatine frowned at this proposal as the senate erupted in loud arguments. "I can assure you Senator that the clones are doing their job efficiently," he said.

Another senator joined Organa's pod. " If that is the case Chancellor, then why have the separatists been getting the upper hand as of late?" the senator boomed. The rest of the senate seemed to agree with him making Palpatine frown even more.

"Order! We shall have order!" Mas Amedda called.

Another senator came into the mix. "I suggest we vote on this matter!" he called.

There were a number of 'eyes' on that matter forcing Palpatine to give in to this madness. Very well if that was how it should be, then so be it. "The voting shall commence," he announced. He was most displeased when the senators voted in favor of this new army, he however would prolong their involvement for however long. Finally he stood up. "Since no army of this kind has been created, then I must insist that our troops enter boot camp before they can fight!" he announced knowing that they couldn't argue with that.

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This time when Han came out of the refresher he was completely clean But Anakin noticed that that wasn't the only thing different about him. He looked over at Mrs. Jixton. "You've told him didn't you," he deducted.

Han walked over to him then. "Thank you for finding my aunt for me Mr. Anakin," he said.

Anakin smiled down at the boy. "I'm glad to have found you a home, Han. Perhaps we'll see each other again," he told the boy.

Han looked at him with that. "You're leaving?" he asked sadly.

"As soon as my business with the king is over, I'll be leaving," Anakin told him. He then gave him a wink, "remember what we talked about," he said.

Han brightened up at that. "I will," he told him.

"Come on Child, It's time for you to come home," Mrs. Jixton said ushering Han out the door. Han looked back over his shoulder at Anakin then and gave a wave. Anakin only smiled at him in return.

Once they were gone Obi-Wan spoke up. "All in a days work," he said.

Anakin crossed his arms. "Yeah," he agreed.

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Anakin and Obi-Wan stood in the throne room again the next morning with the King, Princess Makayla and the same advisers who were at the last meeting. They waited for the king to speak and they held their breath when he opened his mouth to speak.

"We have reviewed the evidence which you have given us and have come to realize that Chancellor Palpatine is an enemy of the republic. Due to your devotion to the republic and democracy to have brought this evidence to us, we have decided to help aid you in whatever cause you may need," The king announced.

Anakin and Obi-Wan sighed with relief. One battle had been won.

"However, we insist on you staying just one more day to discuss this new army," Princess Makayla said.

"Gladly, your highness," Obi-Wan said.

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Padme couldn't believe how easy it was to get the vote to start the new army. She only wondered what Chancellor Palpatine would do to ruin things. She threw her cloak off and placed it over the couch before continuing into her bedroom where she began to undress. She unhooked her elaborate senate dress and let it pool at her feet. She stepped out of the dress and sat down at her vanity. She began to undo the elaborate hairstyle and looked at herself in the mirror thinking of all the times that Anakin would stand behind her and traced her jaw and neck first with his fingers and then with his mouth. He would do so slowly putting her in agony while he took his time before they could join as one. She wished that he was here right now. She was beginning to get spoiled as Anakin spent more time at home these last eight months. But she knew that the war would call him back out onto the battlefield soon. She only prayed that she wouldn't loose him to this war, now more than ever. Coming out of her reverie she finished getting ready for bed, prepared for another night in bed alone.

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Siri walked through the streets of Coruscant along with Dirthmar alone. From what she had learned about their target was that Senator Garm Bel Iblis was a skilled military leader, that was why Dirthmar had insisted on coming with her. The Corellian senator would fight back against his attackers. Their so called nameless boss wanted the senator dead. He wanted Corellia to turn against th republic and to come around to the separatists side. Inside Siri was working on a plan to sabotage this attack and not have it pointed to her. She wasn't paying attention when a swarm of battle droids came out of the shadows surrounding them.

"What the hell!" She called.

"It seems as though we're surrounded," Dirthmar said pulling out a weapon. "Although I am surprised to say the least," he added.

The battle droids all raised their weapons at them. "Kill them," the leader said. "Roger roger," the others repeated.

Siri knew that she was in a bind. Her hand itched for her lightsaber, she knew that she shouldn't make any sudden move. She would have to use a blaster least her cover be blown. Before she could tell Dirthmar not to do it, he raised his weapons to get rid of the droids, but they were faster and began shooting him at all angles. Siri watching as he clutched his weapons in his hands and he body shifted with each blaster shot. Foregoing her cover, Siri pulled out her lightsaber and began taking out the droids. She flipped over a few droids heads and sliced them apart at the same time pulling the blasters out of the remaining droids hands with the force throwing hem far away. It took her no time to destroy the droids after that. Once they were all nothing but smoldering rubble, Siri rushed over to where Dirthmar lay crumpled on the ground. He stared up at her in rage, something the falleen never did.

"I should have known that you were a jedi after seeing that jedi weapon," he told her.

"Listen, I can help you, you don't have to die, but I need to know who's trying to kill Skywalker," she told him.

"I'm dead anyway jedi," Dirthmar told her and hissed in pain. "Whether I tell you or not, both choices has me dying. Personally, I'd rather keep you guessing his name as tribute to your deceit."

"You need to tell me his name," Siri insisted.

"Rot in hell!" Dirthmar told her.

Before Siri could continue to try to get him to tell her anything She felt his life leave him at that moment as his blood continued to empty into the streets. She had failed and now they may never know who was trying to kill Anakin Skywalker. She stood up then knowing that she couldn't stick around for long. Whoever had sent those battle droids would be coming by to make sure that he was dead. She would let them have that at least. With her failure in mind, she began the long walk back to he jedi temple.

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"Well I'd say that we've accomplished our task here," Obi-Wan said as he and Anakin walked into the palace hanger the next morning to return to Coruscant.

"I have to admit, it was easer than I thought it would be," Anakin told him.

"Perhaps that Master Yoda has had something to do with that," Obi-Wan suggested.

"Perhaps," Anakin agreed as they climbed into their starfighters. "Either way, we have a full report to deliver to Master Yoda," he said at last.

"I know that you're eager to get home," Obi-Wan said as they prepared to lift off.

"You have no idea," Anakin told him once the headset was on and the canopy of the starfighter closed. "Lets get going," he said lifting off out of the hanger. He and Obi-Wan connected with their respective hyperspace rings and left Corellia.

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When Siri had finally returned to the temple her failure had hit like a ton of bricks. Dirthmar had died before he could tell her who had hired him to bring Anakin Skywalker to Mustafar. But it wasn't just her failure that had her avoiding the other jedi in the temple as she made her way through the temple. She had to reach the comfort of her own quarters. She needed time to collect herself and to come to grips with what she had done on this mission.

She spotted Obi-Wan and Anakin walking through the temple and she froze. That's when Obi-Wan noticed her. "Siri? SIRI!" he called beginning to yelled her name as she came to her senses and began to run. She knew that he was following her so she increased her speed. She pushed and shoved her way through the many jedi at the temple finding her refuge when she spotted the lifts. She made a running leap into one after a group of jedi just got off of it. She hit the button to close the doors just in time as both Obi-Wan and Anakin began to catch up with her. When the doors closed and the lift began to move she sagged inside the lift. She couldn't face him, not yet. She knew that she would have to report to the council and inform them of her failure. The problem in that mostly was that Obi-Wan was on the council.

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Obi-Wan stopped in front of the closed doors of the lift that he had seen Siri enter moments before. He began hitting the button to get the lift to open, but it didn't open.

"Maybe she just doesn't want to see you," Anakin suggested stopping next to him. When Obi-Wan shot him a sharp look he spoke again. "Not that you did anything, perhaps it's her problem. Perhaps something happened on her mission," he suggested.

"Perhaps," Obi-Wan said turning away from the lift. "We'll find out soon enough what had happened and hopefully she had found out who is trying to kill you," he said as they began to walk away.

"Something tells me otherwise," Anakin said looking back to the lifts.

Obi-Wan turned to see what he was looking at and sighed. "Come, we have a report for Master Yoda," he said at last.

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Lord Sidious looked down at the dead body that was brought before him. His men found no trace of the his companion. Whoever it was, he knew had used a lightsaber. He frowned and examined the body of the bounty hunter. If he had his choice, he would have had him alive so that he could question the thing himself. But apparently he had put up a fight. Lord Sidious looked up at the one who had dragged the body to him.

"Have you gotten the project completed?" He asked.

"Yes my lord," the alien said at last.

Lord Sidious smiled. "Good. We will test it out on him before we collect our target," he said.


	36. Bombs And Grave Robbing

So, another chapter, better than the last. I hope you enjoy it.

Charlie

* * *

It has been a month since the Senate had voted the creation of the new army. The Delegation had convinced the rest of the senate to put the jedi in charge of the armies creation much to Chancellor Palpatine's dismay. However things were looking up, the jedi knew that something was bound to happen. Much to Master Windu's concern, Master Yoda had placed Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in charge of the army, giving them full reigne over how things were going to be done. With their new task, Anakin and Obi-Wan grew busy designing the boot camp regime required to train the new army. It was with this thought alone, knowing that Anakin Skywalker was in charge of the army that made Chancellor Palpatine back off awaiting the time when he could claim control. The allies of the jedi had readily sent their best troops to Coruscant to be trained. Unfortunately the training that was required would be taking quite awhile. 

Anakin spent most of his time going over the plans for the republic's army, often driving Obi-Wan insane with every detail and going over it twenty times before deciding to change something, often decided that he had it right the first time around. It would appear that Master Yoda knew exactly what he was doing putting Anakin in charge. For one, it took Anakin's mind off of Vader. For two, Anakin had proven himself to be a great warrior, especially in battle. Thirdly, due to his time in future with the rebellion, he had acquired the leadership skills required. For last, Anakin had one of the most brilliant minds in the order, taking in every detail and singling out the flaws in mere seconds thinking up ways to fix them in mere moments.

It was night when Anakin was still sitting down going over the plans hat he didn't really think of how late it was getting. There was just so much that needed to be done in such a short span of time. So much that he needed to accomplish. He paid so much attention to what he was working on that he didn't notice two delicate hands sliding over his shoulders and up and down his arms until her felt someone kiss him on the neck. He smiled as he put down what he was working on to take one of those hands into him to bring it to his mouth. "What would my wife say if she caught you here with me Willa?" he asked.

Padme pushed him at that. "Who's Willa?" she demanded. 

Anakin turned around to face her all but killing himself from not laughing at her obvious jealousy. "I guess I just gave myself away. I'm sorry you had to find out like this Padme," he told her standing up.

Padme looked at him hard with her arms crossed and tapped her foot until the corner of his mouth twitched. "You're horrible!" she told him shoving him. 

Anakin couldn't hold back his laughter after that. "Willa was this maid in Corellia's palace that Obi-Wan said had a crush on me. I told him that he had to have been wrong because the girl couldn't have been any older than fourteen," he explained. 

"I hate to break it to you Anakin, but girls start having crushes when they're around nine or ten years of age," Padme told him. 

At that Anakin blached. He thought of Leia chasing after boys and being chased back as a nine year old. He would have to introduce her and Han early on then. 

Padme laughed at his expression. "Why are you making such a face?" she asked. 

"I'm going to have my job cut out for me if we ever have a daughter," he told her. 

Padme frowned at that. "I thought we had agreed not to discuss children until the war was over," she told him. 

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Anakin told her walking into the bedroom where he began to disrobe for bed. 

"Anakin," Padme began placing her hands on his shoulders and leaned into him. "It's not that I don't want children, it just that I'm trying to be sensible," she told him. 

"I know," Anakin told her. "I wont say anything about it again." 

"I'm sorry Ani," Was all that she could say. It was killing her to deny the subject, but someone had to be the sensible one with this topic and it obviously wasn't going to be him. Before she could say or do anything more Anakin spoke. 

"Look, I haven't been getting much sleep lately since I've been working on the plans for the army and I'm tired," he told her. 

Padme nodded knowing that the conversation was over. She didn't press this issue not knowing if her heart could continue to deny them what they both wanted. As long as they didn't talk about it, the better things would be.

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Master Yoda looked at both Anakin and Obi-Wan. "Ready for their first trial they are?" he asked. 

"Yes Master," Anakin said. 

"Corellia has sent quite a large amount of troops, all excellently trained. Our Corellian troops have been helping with the training as well," Obi-Wan told him. 

Master Yoda nodded. "To Rantooine you will go. A codded message we have intercepted. Plan to attack the separatists do. Take your best troops you will," he said. 

"Yes Master."

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It was the morning that they were to leave for Rantooine and things were going well. The republican ships were stocked with supplies. Obi-Wan had gone over the checklist three times, coming up with the same conclusion. They were ready. He was now waiting for Anakin to arrive. When he heard footsteps coming into the hanger, he didn't expect to see Master Windu come into the hanger. 

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at him. "Come to see us off?" he asked. 

"I'm coming with you, the council wants someone to observe this mission," Mace told him. 

Obi-Wan nodded. He had no ill feelings towards Mace Windu, but he knew that Mace suspected something of Anakin and knew that Anakin had to be careful around Mace right now, more than ever. "You would be a great help," he finally said. 

"That is what I was thinking," Mace told him. 

They both turned when Anakin entered the hanger, datapad in hand. He didn't notice Mace until he was standing in front of them. He looked at Mace in surprise. "Master Windu," he said in greeting. 

"It seems as though we have a little help with this mission, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him. 

Anakin nodded in understanding. "There really isn't anything for you to do, we'll quickly have this mission under control, Master," Anakin told him. 

"The council disagrees," Mace told him. 

Anakin frowned and then turned to Obi-Wan. "Did you receive a copy that message?" he asked. 

"Yes, the capitol is the first target. I've contacted the prime minister and he is informed of our arrival. Since this attack wont occur until our second day there, he has set us up to stay with one of his servants to set up camp," Obi-Wan told him. 

Anakin nodded. "That sounds like a plan," he said. He turned to Mace. "Does this meet with the council's approval?" he asked. 

"It may," Mace told him not liking his tone. 

One of the corellian soldiers came up to them. Anakin recognized him as Major Gabriel Dutchinson. "General Skywalker, General Kenobi, we're all prepared to go," he said. 

"Bored the ship then, we're prepared to leave now," Obi-Wan commanded. 

---------------------------------------------------------------- 

Rantooine was a small planet in the mid rim sixty parsecs away from the planet Cerea. It's terrain was grassy and the cities were ancient with few modern sights. The people of Rantooine were very simple, governed by a prime minister rather than a monarchy. Most citizens were farmers living on the outskirts of the cities. They made their money with exporting goods, relying on their own for their goods without having to import goods from other planets. 

The group of republican ships docked in a rented spaceport before loading their supplies into rented speeders. They followed orders from the jedi without question so far out of respect and eagerness to serve for the republic. The sooner that they had their training out of the way, the sooner that they could battle the separatists. Anakin couldn't help but feel that each world that these troops came from would be invaded soon hardening them against the separatists movement.

Anakin and Obi-Wan ordered the troops to stations around the city dressed in local garb to not arouse suspicion, keeping their weapons concealed with a few interjections by Mace. After securing the area, the jedi met with the prim minster Alfonso Erect on security measures. They hoped to catch the separatists when they landed. As they left the prime minister's office, Anakin felt a moment of dread. Something was going to go wrong. Something just wasn't right. At this moment he had mixed feelings about having more clones than republican troops on this mission. He didn't trust the clones, but he knew that they needed them at the moment due to the less trained troops they had. Anakin didn't voice his concern yet due to their arrival to their hostess's home to set up surveillance. 

Their hostess was a tall dark haired woman with stormy gray eyes. She went bay the name of Eileen Starling. Her home was small and in the middle of the city.

"Prime Minister Erect has informed me of the reason you are here," Eileen said as she ushered the jedi inside. 

"Then you are aware of how serious this matter is," Mace said. 

Eileen nodded. "My husband was a pilot on one of the trade ships. A separatists ship shot his ship down when he get in the way. Other trade ships saw this happen and scrambled to get back home. I will do what I can to help," she told them.

"Where can we set up?" Anakin asked feeling for this woman who had lost someone to this war. He thought of how Padme would handle things if she lost him to the war.

"You can set up in here," Eileen told them showing them the den. "This used to be my husbands office," she told them. Suddenly the wail of a baby could be heard followed by another one. Eileen turned towards it. "If you excuse me," she said leaving the room.

Obi-Wan walked over to Anakin. "Something is troubling you," he said.

"It's just a feeling. Something tells me that we're wrong about something. I can feel it," Anakin told them.

"We've gone over the message several times, I'm pretty sure that we're right," Mace told him.

"It's just a feeling I have," Anakin told him.

"I don't want to dismiss your instincts Anakin, but what could go wrong?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I don't know," Anakin told them.

"Lets not dwell on feelings and focus on what we know at the moment. What we know can serve us best in this situation," Mace told him.

"You do that," Anakin told him leaving the room.

Obi-Wan looked at Mace. "I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Anakin's instincts. He's never wrong about things," he said.

"Lets hope he's wrong about this," Mace said.

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Anakin stopped in the hall when he heard soft cooing. He looked inside the room that it was coming from. The door was wide open so that he could see the crib under the window. He walked further into the room to see two babies, each with dark ebony hair. They looked up at him with identical stormy gray eyes.

"They look so innocent don't they?"

Anakin turned around to see Eileen enter the room with some clean baby clothes. "Aren't all children?" he replied.

Eileen smiled. "So it seems," she said putting the clothes on the dresser. She walked over to brush some hair back from the babies foreheads.

"What are their names?" Anakin asked.

Eileen smiled again. "Sabrina and Sebastien. My husband named them," she told him. Her smile faded some. "They're all I have left."

"You have no other family?" Anakin asked.

Eileen shook her head. "My Parents died two years ago. My husband's parents died when he was a child, we didn't have any siblings and neither did my parents. My husband was raised by his aunt, but she died with no children. I don't know what would happen to them if I died, We're all we've got," she told him.

Anakin didn't know what to say to that. His feeling of dread was getting worse with each moment. He knew that something was going to go wrong. He looked down at the two babies who looked up at him and he knew somehow that they could tell that something was wrong.

"I should go fix dinner, it's getting late and I'm sure you're hungry," Eileen said leaving the room after kissing her babies foreheads.

Anakin watched her go before turning back to the babies. "Everything is going to be alright, you'll see," he told them. As their eyes drifted shut, he left the room and met up with Obi-Wan and Mace.

"I'm beginning to see what you mean about something going wrong, I can sense it too," Obi-Wan told him.

"I think you're both right," Mace said frowning as he watched something on a computer screen. "Separatists ships are coming in fast. It seems that our estimated time was off."

Anakin and Obi-Wan came over and looked at the screen then. "They're right above us!" Obi-Wan snapped.

Anakin pulled out his comlink then. "This is Anakin Skywalker, prepare for battle, separatists are right above us!" he told the troops.

The sinking feeling of dread deepened as he sensed something coming at an alarming rate. It grew worse when one the the troops replied. "General something is raining down in the sky!"

All three jedi ran outside to see objects falling from the sky. "What in the name of the force!" Obi-Wan called. They and everyone else on the street that had stopped to look ducked for cover as the objects no bigger than a newborn baby hit the ground and exploded.

"Get these people off of the streets and under cover!" Mace ordered into the comlinks.

The people on the streets began to panic as more bombs kept coming. They screamed and ran around. The troops gathered everyone up and ordered people to get underground as well as the security officers directing people. Anakin ran in a different direction as did Obi-Wan and Mace to get people to safety. This was a new tactic for the separatists to pull. He then spotted Eileen out on the streets frozen in fear as the bombs came down.

"Get out of the way!" Anakin shouted at her. He ran towards her as she seemed to not hear him, but he was too late, a bomb hit the ground not far from where she stood. The explosion from it was large enough to send her six feet from where she stood into the wall of a building. Anakin ran to her hoping for the sake of those babies that she was okay. When he got to her she opened her eyes and looked at him. "My babies, get them to safety, please, make sure that they're safe," she asked him.

"First we're going to make sure you're safe," Anakin told her.

"I can't, please just make sure that my babies are safe," she asked him again.

Anakin could sense her getting weaker and she was bleeding tremendously. She was loosing too much brood from all different angles. More bombs fell from the sky around them taking his attention away from her briefly. But at that moment she stopped breathing. He could feel through the force that she was dead. There was nothing more hat he could do. He had to do what she asked. He had to get those children to safety.

Anakin got up after closing her eyes and ran back to her house and heard the wailing of the two babies. He ran into the room where their crib was and looked down at the wailing twins. He knew that they could sense what happened to their mother. After all the bond between mother and child was a strong one indeed. Even if he wasn't there, he still would have been able to have felt his mothers death. It was as though a part of you had been ripped away from you so suddenly. As the sounds of bombs could be heard outside in the city he made no move.

"Anakin we need to get everyone to safety!" Obi-Wan called from outside the room.

That didn't matter right now. What mattered were the twins who held each other wailing. Gently he used the force to calm them. "Everything is going to be alright, I promise you," he told them as he brushed back their black hair from their foreheads. Both children looked up at him with identical stormy gray eyes. They seemed to believe him.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted as he came into the room. He stopped as Anakin picked up one of the twins.

"The troops can take care of the people! We-I need to get them to safety," Anakin told him as he went about searching for something to strap the now calm child to him tightly.

"Anakin, we have a job to do," Obi-Wan told him gently but only half heartedly.

"Leave it to the troops," Anakin said firmly making sure that the female twin was strapped firmly to him. "I need your help, Master, Their mother just died, they have no one," he pleaded.

Obi-Wan hated abandoning his duties, but he couldn't leave these children. Anakin was right. Their first priority were these children now that their mother was gone. They were now orphaned. Making his decision, he picked up the other twin and found something similar to what Anakin used to strap the male twin to himself tightly. "We must be quick. Once we get to our ships, we can decide on where we will be bringing them," he said.

A huge blast erupted somewhere close this time rocking the small house. Both Anakin and Obi-Wan held the twins close as they steaded themselves. Furniture had turned over and pieces of the walls had began to crumble down. "Lets get out of here!" Anakin called. Both jedi made their way out of the house using the force to keep the twins quiet as they hurried through the city. Along the way they had to direct people to get to safety before going to the hanger where their starfighters were being housed.

Obi-Wan hailed Mace on the comlink. "We need to stop this madness! We have to take down those ships!" he called.

"The Rantooine security is taking over, The rest of us are coming to the hanger," Mace told them.

After Obi-Wan ended his transmission with Mace Anakin turned him. "We need to get them away from the war," he told him.

"Where do you suggest?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin looked down to the two children, each were looking up at him, giving him their complete trust. He knew that he had to place them in a good home, a safe home. "What is the one world that has no value to either side?" he asked giving Obi-Wan a look.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, Anakin. Please tell me that you don't have Tatooine in mind!" he said, but Anakin's look didn't waver. "Anakin! Have you forgotten how dangerous Tatooine is, especially for children!"

"I was pretty fine as a child," Anakin pointed out.

"You were a slave! Or have you forgotten that part?!" Obi-Wan said shocked that Anakin would even think of such a place.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at him. "I haven't forgotten," he assured him.

"Where would you bring them?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Owen and Beru provided a good home for Luke in the future. He was safe there," Anakin told him.

"And how are you going to convince them to take in two children?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin shook his head. "They'll do it, I'm sure," he said.

"There is no talking you out of this I can tell," Obi-Wan sighed.

"No, there isn't," Anakin told him firmly as he settled into his cockpit.

Obi-Wan sighed again and followed suit.

At that moment Mace and the troops arrived. "We're taking those ships down before they can cause more damage!" Mace told them. He then noticed the babies strapped to Obi-Wan and Anakin. "What are you two doing?" he demanded

"Their mother just died, she made me promise to take them to safety," Anakin explained.

"And where are you going to take the?" Mace asked.

"To Tatooine," Obi-Wan told him. "He's taking them to his brother," he explained before Mace could say anything more.

"We'll meet you at Tatooine then, just make sure those children are safe," Mace ordered. He wanted to say more, but he knew that Skywalker was different than most jedi, he had a family before he came to be a jedi, they couldn't stop him from taking the children to them. Besides, he had a feeling that Skywalker disregarded the code to visit his family. Mace wanted to check this out for himself.

Anakin didn't need to be told twice before he started up the engines to his starfighter. Obi-Wan followed suit and simultaneously they took off from the hanger and left the planet heading for the outer rim through the stream of separatists ships. They had to dodge fire constantly before they could jump to hyperspace.

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Owen Lars had just finished up fixing one of the evaporators when he noticed two jedi starfighters land outside the homestead. Wondering what it was now he approached the two ships just as Anakin and Obi-Wan stepped out of them. "What are you doing here?" Owen asked.

"I can't come and see my brother?" Anakin asked.

"It would be nice if you commed first," Owen told him.

"Anakin, Master Windu will be here soon, I suggest we go inside and discuss what we need to discuss," Obi-Wan said.

It was then that Owen noticed the babies strapped to the two jedi's chests. "Lets go inside then," he said.

Once they were inside, Beru met them and smiled at them. "Hello Anakin, Obi-Wan. I didn't know that you were coming," she said.

"That makes two of us," Owen told her. "Maybe we should go into the living room," he said putting his arm around Beru as they walked into the living room. From there Anakin and Obi-Wan began to unstrap the babies from their chests.

Beru looked at the two babies and back to the jedi confused. "Where did they come from? She asked instantly falling in love with the twins. She took the male from Obi-Wan's arms and sat down holding the baby. She looked up at Anakin, "How old are they?" she asked.

"A little over a year I think," Anakin said sitting down next to her with the female twin. "Their mother died not too long ago, they have no one left. I promised their mother that I would get them to safety," he explained. From there he looked Owen in the eye. "I need to find them a safe home," he finished.

"Forget it Anakin" Owen said sternly. He stood impassively in front of Anakin while he held the girl. He turned to where Obi-Wan Kenobi stood off to the side with his arms folded and then to Beru who held the other twin.

"They need a good home away from the war, Owen. They lost both of their parents to the war. Tatooine is the only world that'll be untouched by the war. I believe that you and Beru can give them what they need. Besides you told me that if I ever needed anything I can come to you. I need to make sure that they're safe," Anakin told him.

"Anakin I can't afford to take care of two children," Owen told him.

"Owen," Beru said. "They need us," Beru told him looking down at the child in her arms.

Owen's resolved faltered slightly. Beru wanted children and he knew that they couldn't have any. "How are we supposed to take care of two children?" he asked.

"We can manage," Beru told him smiling at the child in her arms before turning to the one in Anakin's arms.

Owen sighed. "I blame you Skywalker if this doesn't work out," he said.

Anakin smiled. "I think It will work out perfectly," he told him.

At that moment there was a chime at the door. Anakin and Obi-Wan looked up. "That would be Master Windu," Obi-Wan said.

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Mace sat on the bed afforded to him by the Lars' that night thinking over the situation. Skywalker's brother seemed to be a very simple man. From what he had learned of the situation was that Skywalker's mother married into the family adopting Owen after she was freed from slavery shortly after Skywalker became a jedi. He watched Anakin interact with Owen and noticed a brotherly bond between the two. He was dismayed at this for the simple fact that emotional attachments were forbidden by the jedi code. But he also noted that Skywalker had very little contact with the Lars'. Which in his mind made up for the fact that Skywalker had a sort of bond with Owen Lars. He would have to discuss this with Master Yoda and see what he thinks on the subject. He couldn't blame Skywalker for knowing his family for the simple fact that he was only trained after he was nine years of age. Perhaps Master Yoda would have something to say on the matter. Right now he needed to get some sleep. The events from the day had made him in need of some rest. In the morning he would meditate on the subject.

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Anakin lay in the bed that he had slept in the last time that he was here. The events of the day had made him tired, but he couldn't sleep. Obi-Wan was already asleep which irritated Anakin some. He envied Obi-Wan ability to sleep peacefully. The fact that Master Windu was in the room next to his was unsettling. He knew that the jedi master didn't trust him. Anakin wondered what he would do now that he knew that he had contact with his family. Who would he go to first? Mostly he would seek out Master Yoda but would Master Yoda quiet his suspicions? Or would Master Windu have other plans? Whatever it was, he needed to be extra careful now. His uneasiness wouldn't settle. But as he decided to put himself to sleep something caught his senses. Something was wrong outside. Obi-Wan must have sensed it too because he sat up just as Anakin did.

"You sense it too?" Anakin asked.

"They couldn't have followed us, could they?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I'm not waiting to find out," Anakin told him grabbing his lightsaber and heading out the door, he didn't need the force to tell him that he had followed him. When he got outside, he noticed one of the graves have been dug up. What would dig up somebodies grave and why? Before he could ponder that, he heard the firing up of engines and he looked over to the right to see a ship lift up from the ground. Thinking fast he threw a tractor on the ship just as the ship fired at him.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted as the blast threw him to the ground.

Anakin got up just as the ship left the ground. He froze as he noticed who's grave was dug up. He quickly ran over to the open grave to find his mother's body gone!

"We're following that ship now!" He shouted.

"Anakin, we can't just leave like this! There's a tractor on that ship, we'll find it!" Obi-Wan told him.

At that moment Owen and Beru came out followed by Master Windu. Owen looked at the open grave and back at Anakin.

"We're going after that ship now!" Anakin snapped.

"What happened?" Owen demanded.

"They stole her!" Anakin told him. "The separatists stole Mom's body!"


	37. Shmi

I told myself that I wasn't going to do something like this, but I had to figure out a way that Palpatine could use to bring Vader out and this is the best that I could come up with. I hope it meets with your approval.

Charlie

* * *

Obi-Wan grabbed Anakin by the arm. "Anakin, think rationally. You will not help matters by doing otherwise," he told him.

"We need to follow them and bring her back," Anakin told him trying to calm himself down.

"We'll do that, but right now you need to think rationally, behave rationally," Obi-Wan told him and then turned to Mace. "The council must know of what had happened both on Rantooine and what happened now. I need to go with Anakin, we have to bring Shmi's body back here," he said.

"Agreed. I will take all but one ship back to Coruscant, you can take the other to find the body," Mace said.

Anakin turned to where Owen stood with his arms around Beru. "We'll find her. I have to find her," he said.

"We trust you Anakin. Do what you have to do," Owen told him.

Beru hugged Owen tighter. "I should check on the twins," she said heading back into the house.

"We're leaving now," Anakin announced going straight to the green starfighter he was using due to his being worked on back at Coruscant and climbed in.

"We'll meet you back at Coruscant," Obi-Wan said to Mace as he got into his starfighter. Together he and Anakin lifted up from the ground and left Tatooine in search of the ship that held Shmi's body

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"The signal is coming from that planet to the right," Anakin said into the comlink as they left hyperspace over Dathomir.

"What would they be doing there?" Obi-Wan asked getting a readout from his computer.

"I really don't care as long as we get my mother out of there," Anakin told him into the comlink. He then switched over to the Republican ship. "Stay up here, We'll hail you when we need you," he ordered the troops.

"Yes, General Skywalker," came one of the troops reply.

From there Anakin and Obi-Wan descended into Dathomir's atmosphere. "The signal is coming from that canyon to the right," Anakin said as they flew over the planets surface.

"It could be a trap you know," Obi-Wan told him.

"So, we'll spring the trap. Lets land away from the canyon," Anakin told him.

"I did the same thing on Geonosis and I got caught remember," Obi-Wan told him.

"We wont get caught until we have what we've come for," Anakin told him landing his starfighter above the canyon and out of sight. He waited for Obi-Wan to land his starfighter before he jumped out of his and checked for his lightsabers finding them in place.

Obi-Wan walked over to him. "Alright, lets find a back door," he told him.

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Anakin used to force to sense where his mother's body was. He followed it sticking to the shadows until he felt her beneath him. He crouched behind a pillar separating a glass wall. He didn't have to look to know that Obi-Wan was behind the one next to him. He craned his neck to look through the glass seeing his mother's body laying on a cold metal table. Force knows what these body snatchers planned on doing with her! 

"I don't understand it, why steal a dead woman's body?" Obi-Wan asked horrified by the sheer act.

"That's not just any dead body, Obi-Wan, that's my mother's body," Anakin said gravely. His mind had stopped pounding with rage at the sheer act enough to consider the possibilities on what was to be done with her body. His eyes focused on the fact that his mother's body had been perfectly preserved by the sand on Tatooine. He remembered Minga saying something about how sand could preserve body or something of the likes.

"Still, what could they hope to gain by taking her body?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I don't know," Anakin confessed waiting for the opportunity to rescue his mother's body. They watched as aliens surrounded his mother's body performing some kind of ritual that neither jedi could understand until a bright glowing light emitted from the room. Both jedi turned away from the light to save their eyes until a woman's screams could be heard. Anakin knew those screams all too well and every instinct was telling him to get down there. He stood up suddenly. He didn't care about the fact that she should not be screaming, not at all.

"Anakin don't!" Obi-Wan warned.

Anakin ignored him and pulled out his lightsaber. He backed up, ran and crashed through the glass dropping crunched to the floor below with his lightsaber ignited. The aliens scrambled about while the now alive Shmi sat bolt upright peering at him. Anakin stood just in time to cut through the first alien coming at him to attack him. He fought the creatures coming at him with primitive weapons, slicing the weapons apart and sometimes slicing an arm or a leg off, mostly heads. He fended them off until one caught him off guard and hit him in the face with it's weapon knocking him on his back. His lightsaber went clattering across the room just as the weapon came down on him. Anakin rolled this way and that to avoid being hit. The alien attacking him didn't count on him catching his head between his feet at the first opportunity. Anakin gave a mighty twist snapping the aliens neck in the process. He didn't have time to lay there as they continued to come at him. He sprang to his feet and pulled out his duel bladed lightsaber igniting both blades continuing to fight these inhuman beasts. He twisted about as he spun his lightsaber in his right hand cutting through the creatures with deadlier speed. He sensed Obi-Wan enter the room and before his master could help him, Anakin shouted at him. "Keep her safe!" He briefly glanced over to see Obi-Wan pull his mother off of the table and take her out of harms way into the corner.

Anakin pressed a switch on his lightsaber breaking it in half creating two different lightsabers and continued to fend these creatures off from all different angels as they came at him more fiercely from all sides. But they were no match for him as he used the form jar'kai which he had perfected after loosing his duel with Count Dooku. Finally he had cut through the very last of them. Panting he switched the blades off and reconnected the lightsaber before putting it away. He summoned his other lightsaber and clipped it back onto his belt before turning to face the shocked expression on his mother's face.

"Ani?" she asked.

Anakin tore his attention away from his mother and over to Obi-Wan. "We need to get out of here before anymore of them can show up," he said.

"You should have waited before jumping in here, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him putting his own lightsaber away. "How many times do I have to tell you, patience?" he demanded.

"Patience be damned at this moment!" Anakin yelled. He looked around him at the carnage. He left none alive. It was the least that they deserved. He was disgusted with himself as he realized that it was something Vader would do. "I don't want to wait around here for any more to show up," he said more calmly before going to the exit leaving Obi-Wan to bring his mother along.

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"This will have to do since our way in has been cut off," Obi-Wan said after they stopped and crouched behind a darkened hallway waiting for the battle droids to pass them by. Anakin had taken the lead with Obi-Wan in the back leaving Shmi sandwiched between the two.

"Honestly Anakin! What are we doing, if this is some sort of game, then you can leave me out of this one, I'd much rather not see you get hurt this time," Shmi said growing tired of her son's icy silence. She wasn't expecting him to turn around sharply and press a black gloved hand over her mouth and give her a cold stare.

"This is no game, this is war," he told her quietly before turning his attention back to their escape rout. "There's only two of them sanding guard," he said frowning.

"Ah, but you know that there'll be at least five destroyers waiting," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin grinned grimly. "We'll just have to take our chance," he said and looked back. "You take care of the guards, I'll hot wire the doors and then we'll make our escape. I'm sure there's a suitable ship in that hanger that we can take," he said.

"I'm ready when you are," Obi-Wan said. Both jedi looked at Shmi then. "Do as we say!" they both said in unison.

Shmi planted both hands on her hips at them. "You don't have to treat me like a child," she told them.

Anakin didn't say anything to her but gave Obi-Wan a quick nod. Obi-Wan nodded back leaving their hiding spot to care of the two droid guards.

"Hello there," Obi-Wan said stopping in front of the droids.

"Jedi, kill him," the first droid said aiming his blaster at him.

"Roger roger," the second one said. Before they could get the chance to fire, Obi-Wan sliced through them leaving smoldering pieces on the floor.

Anakin quickly grabbed Shmi's arm and pulled her over to the doors. Both Jedi blocked her from any harm should the destroyers come.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Anakin exclaimed.

"What is it?" Both Obi-Wan and Shmi asked.

Anakin turned to them. "I should have known that the security would be as low class as their battle droids," he said sarcastically opening the hanger doors with ease. "Fools!" he snapped shaking his head as he grabbed Shmi's arm and pulled her into the hanger.

"Anakin Skywalker I can walk just as fine on my own without you pulling me along!" Shmi snapped.

Anakin ignored her and pointed to a smaller ship. "That should do just fine!" he said.

"Think it has enough cannons to get us out of here in one piece?" Obi-Wan asked.

"It's the same model ship that almost shot me down not too long ago," Anakin informed him.

"You're right! Then it'll do," Obi-Wan said. He turned his head towards the entrance just as sharp as Anakin did when several destroyer droids came into the hanger. "We've got company!" he yelled.

"I expected them to come by sooner!" Anakin told him shoving his mother up the ramp of the ship as the destroyer droids started firing. He didn't stop pushing and pulling her until they reached the cockpit. There he shoved her into the navigator's seat. "Buckle up, this is going to be a bumpy ride," he told her jumping into the pilots seat quickly followed by Obi-Wan in the co pilots seat.

"Hurry up and get us out of here Anakin!" Obi-Wan called.

"I don't think there'll be any sick bags in here Master," Anakin said grinning at Obi-Wan.

"Very funny, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him flatly.

"More of them are coming!" Shmi called.

Anakin grinned. "This is where the fun begins," he said.

"I don't think I share your idea of fun Anakin!" Obi-Wan told him.

"Relax Master," Anakin said quickly finding the cannon controls and aiming it at the destroyer droids and fired torching the offending droids. "Now, lets get the hell out of here!" he announced taking off.

They left the hanger with with the separatists firing at them. Anakin quickly dodged their fire twisting the ship this way and that.

"Well at least we weren't sentenced for execution this time," Obi-Wan said.

"Personally, I'd prefer a dogfight like the one on Geonosis right about now," Anakin told him.

"Personally, I'd rather avoid one," Obi-Wan told him.

"That is why they call you the negotiator and they call me the hero without fear," Anakin pointed out pulling the ship into space. He quickly transmitted a clearance code into the intercom once they got in sight of the Republican ship waiting for them. "This is Anakin Skywalker, take the shields down! I repeat this is Anakin Skywalker, we've commandeered an enemy vessel, take the shields down!" he said hailing the ship.

"Copy that General Skywalker. Taking the shields down now, bored docking bay 36614," one of the troops told them.

Shmi watched with wide eyes as they left space and docked into the huge ship. Never before had she see a ship so big and to think that her son was in command of it. Through out the whole escape, she was quiet and paralyzed with fear as they dodged enemy fire. Finally they were safe as the ship docked.

Anakin and Obi-Wan stood up. "That was too easy," Obi-Wan said.

"I agree, they knew we were coming, yet they let us get away. Something just doesn't sit right," Anakin replied.

Shmi gaped at them. "You call that easy?!" she demanded.

"Milady, we've escaped much worse before," Obi-Wan told her.

"Like escaping execution?" Anakin interjected.

"Precisely," Obi-Wan told him.

"I think we should blow this ship up in space, just to confuse them," Anakin suggested.

"A lot of good that will do when they know we're returning to Coruscant," Obi-Wan told him.

"It would get rid of this thing from our ship," Anakin pointed out.

Obi-Wan waved a hand at him. "Do as you wish Anakin," he said as they exited the ship.

They were met in the hanger by Corellian Lieutenant Hamish Lock. "General Skywalker, General Kenobi, good to see you two in one piece. I have to admit sir, I wasn't expecting to move from Rantooine, to Tatooine and then to Darthomir within two days," he said.

"All in a days work, Lieutenant, You'll soon come to learn of how things are done," Obi-Wan told him.

"Have that ship blown up over the planet and be prepared to leave for Coruscant right away," Anakin ordered.

"Yes sir," Lieutenant Lock said and motioned for the clones to move.

"Anakin, have you given any thought to our new situation?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin looked back to his mother who looked around the ship in wonder. "I don't know what to make of this, I'm hoping that Minga or Master Yoda could help out on this one," he said.

"This is serious, something like this just isn't done. We need to figure out what exactly they did to her," Obi-Wan told him.

"Don't worry, Obi-Wan, I intend to," Anakin said.

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"This Milady is the jedi temple," Obi-Wan said to Shmi as they arrived at the temple.

"It's huge. Is this where you've been living Ani?" Shmi asked.

Anakin shrugged out of his cloak. "Sort of," he said and handed his cloak to her. "Put this on, we don't want any unwanted attention," he told her.

"I'll get Master Yoda and we'll meet you in the medical bay," Obi-Wan said to Anakin.

"You read my mind," Anakin told him.

"Is Qui-Gon here? I'd like to see him," Shmi asked.

Anakin and Obi-Wan stiffened. "Qui-Gon died almost thirteen years ago," Anakin told her.

Shmi's face fell at that. "Oh, I didn't know," she said.

"Don't worry Milady, he's been keeping an eye on Anakin even after death," Obi-Wan told her. Shmi gave him a confused look.

Anakin took her by the arm. "This way," He told her once they were inside. Obi-Wan took a different rout than they did going instead to Master Yoda's quarters.

"I couldn't stay in a place this big, I would get lost," Shmi said.

Anakin didn't say anything and continued to lead her to the medical bay once he was there he stopped inside one of the examining rooms. "Sit," he told her.

Shmi was about to tell him not to order her about, but the look in his eyes made her quiet and she sat down in one of the chairs marveling at how white the place was.

"Minga!" Anakin called when he got no reply, he left the room and opened up her office door to find her poring over her console screen. "Minga," he said startling her.

Minga looked at him then. "What's wrong? You've been hurt again haven't you?" she demanded.

"It's not me I need you to look at," Anakin told her.

"It's Obi-Wan isn't it? Honestly can't you two go on a mission without getting hurt?" Minga said agitated.

"No one is hurt Minga," Anakin told her. "In fact it's quite the opposite," he finished.

Minga looked at him then. "What do you mean?" she demanded.

"Just come out here," Anakin told her.

Minga stood up then and straightened out her skirts, "this better be good," she said.

"Trust me, you don't see something like this everyday," Anakin told her.

"Well, you've got my interest," Minga told him. She followed Anakin out to see a woman looking out the window. "Who's this?" she asked.

"Minga, meet my mother," Anakin told her standing in the doorway.

Minga whirled on him. "Anakin Skywalker, you are a horrible practical joker! I should have known that you'd pull a joke on me. But a joke like this, well I never thought you'd stoop so low!" she snapped.

Anakin frowned. "I'm not joking Minga, believe me I wish I were," he told her.

Minga's jaw dropped. "How?" she asked.

"I don't know, That's what I need you to figure out," Anakin told her.

Shmi watched the exchange and decided that now was the time to intervene. She walked over to Minga and held out her hand. "I'm Shmi Skywalker Lars," she said. She took her hand away when Minga made no move to touch it.

"Well, Mrs. Lars, lets just see how you're doing then," Minga said ushering Shmi to an examining table.

"Minga is the best at what she does, Mom, I trust her with my life," Anakin said making no move to get away from the doorway.

"I should hope so Skywalker. Force knows the countless times I had to fix you up or save your life. I swear that you like visiting here, you just refuse to admit it," Minga told him.

"I care about you too Minga," Anakin told her.

Minga huffed and took to task examining Shmi. "I need to make sure that you weren't harmed in any way," she said to Shmi.

"But I feel fine," Shmi told her.

"I'll be the judge of that," Minga told her.

"Shmi Skywalker is this?" Master Yoda asked as he hobbled into the room. "Most unexpected this is," he finished.

"Is she alright, considering...?" Obi-Wan asked trailing off.

"I can't see anything wrong, but to make sure, I'd like to keep you here for a few days," Minga told Shmi.

"But I'm fine," Shmi told her and looked over at Anakin. "Ani, tell her that I'm fine," she told him.

"Minga knows what she's doing," Anakin told her.

"Come, discuss our next move we must," Master Yoda said to Anakin and Obi-Wan.

"Yes Master," Anakin said nodding. He gave one last look at Shmi before following Master Yoda and Obi-Wan.

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Siri looked herself in the mirror again knowing that something wasn't right. She barely ate, yet she seemed to be gaining weight. She couldn't help but wonder if the bounty hunter had done something to her. She had no choice but to head down to the medical bay. She didn't know what was wrong, but she couldn't wait any longer. She had to find out today.

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"Most unexpected. Disturbing this is," Master Yoda said sitting down.

"There seems to be no motive. Why would the separatists bring a dead woman back? To what purpose?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Because she's my mother, that's why. I think that this is a personal attack against me," Anakin told them.

"To what purpose! To attack you, they would kill someone close to you, not bring someone back from the dead!" Obi-Wan exclaimed.

"It would seem that way, but they let us take her. They want me to have her for the time being. I just can't loose her again, especially not to this war," Anakin said.

Master Yoda looked at him then. "Knows does he? Told him did you?" he asked.

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin then. "Chancellor Palpatine knows about Vader! Anakin do you realize what this could do?!" he snapped.

"I didn't tell him how Vader came to be," Anakin told them. "But I had to tell him something when he caught me inside his apartment, I just didn't tell him everything," he defended himself.

"What's done is done. A close eye we must keep on her. If wrong we are, loose this fight we will," Master Yoda said gravely.

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Shmi woke up hours later in the hospital bed she was assigned to. Why these jedi insisted on forcing her to stay here was beyond her. She had a husband to get back to. But at the same time she had her son here that she hasn't seen in years. The thought of her son made Shmi frown. She didn't begin to understand Anakin anymore. He barely spoke to her and she couldn't take the hardened look on his face. What had happened to her little boy? She turned her head to the side to see a darkened shape sitting in a chair in the darkened corner, but the blond hair stood out in the darkness and Shmi knew that it was her son that sat there.

"Why do you sit there and brood so much? The last time I saw you, you were reluctant to leave me, now you can barely stand to look at me. What is it that I have done to make you hate me so?" she asked.

She watched as Anakin stood up and walked out of the shadows. "I don't hate you Mom," he told her.

"Then tell me what is wrong. Surely you can give me that much," she asked of him.

Anakin sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand, bringing it up to his mouth to kiss it. "What is the last thing you remember?" he asked her.

Shmi looked at him confused. "Ani. Tell me what is wrong," she begged him.

"You're not supposed to be here," he told her.

"Then you really don't want me to be around you," she said her heart breaking just as it did that fateful day when she had to let him go.

Anakin shook his head. "That's not it. Believe me. I've wanted nothing more than to have you with me," he told her.

"Then what is it? What has you turning away from me as you're doing?" Shmi asked choking back her tears.

Anakin stood up then and turned away from her. "You died more than two years ago. I was there. I held you in my arms as you died," he told her.

Shmi didn't believe him. How could she? "You're a terrible lier!" she told him coldly. "I don't know who you are!"

Anakin turned to face her sharply at that. "Whatever those creatures were brought you back from the dead! Something as unnatural as that cannot be taken lightly. Master Yoda believes that it was the dark side that had brought you back and I agree with him. I have made a lot of enemies in this war, the sith will stop at nothing to be rid of Anakin Skywalker and they will use whatever means necessary! They do nothing without reason. And I believe I know the reason why you were brought back. So that I can watch you die one more time. Enough times for me to turn to the dark side!" he yelled.

"There is no way that a person can be brought back from the dead, it's impossible!" Shmi told him.

Anakin's jaw tightened. "I thought so too. But you're living proof that the galaxy is wrong on that subject," he told her. "Until this war is over, you're not leaving the temple. From now on, you are no longer safe. As long as the sith are alive, you are not safe. And make no mistake, the sith will be destroyed even if I have to die to destroy them," he told her before leaving.

Shmi watched him go feeling colder by the minute as his words began to sink into her. She didn't want to believe him, but something inside of her told her that he was speaking the truth.

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Siri waited until everyone was getting ready to settle down for the night before she would go to the medical bay. When she got there the healer was just packing things away fro the night. She stopped what she was doing when she noticed Siri enter the room.

"Siri Tachi right?" Minga asked.

"Yeah," Siri said stepping further into the room. "I think something is wrong with me," She said.

"Come on, lets see what it is," Minga told her. "Why do you think something is wrong with you?" she asked.

"I don't know, it's just the sight and smell of food makes me sick, yet it seems as though I'm gaining weight. I can't explain it," Siri told her.

"Is that all?" Minga asked frowning.

"That seems to be the reason why I'm here. I mean how can you gain weight and not eat?"Siri told her.

"There must be other symptoms, You just don't realize it," Minga told her.

"Well I've been really tired lately and if I stand up too quickly, I become dizzy," Siri told her. "I think this bounty hunter did something to me," she said.

"Let me run some tests," Minga told her. "A blood test should be sufficient," she said taking out a syringe and drawing some blood from Siri's arm.

"How long until you get the results?" Siri asked.

"Not long," Minga told her checking the blood. She frowned when found what was causing the symptoms. She looked over at Siri then. "Siri, you can answer me truthfully here, because it wouldn't be your fault, but were you raped?" she asked.

"What?! Why would you ask me that?" Siri demanded.

"Siri, you don't have to feel like you did anything wrong," Minga said.

"I wasn't raped," Siri told her flatly.

Minga could tell that she was telling the truth and sighed. "Siri, you're pregnant," she told her.

Siri shook her head. It can't be true. "Run some more tests! That's not it!" she snapped.

"I've run all the tests, they all come back to one thing. I'm sorry if you can't accept it, but I can't undo it," Minga told her.

Siri sank down lower into the chair then. "What am I going to do?" She asked.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Minga asked.

Siri looked at her then. "I can't let this get out," she told her.

"I won't say a word, doctor patient privilege," Minga told her.

Siri sighed and then told her everything about what had occurred on her mission.


	38. Force Vision

A part of the dream in this chapter kinda looks like in my mind from Batman returns when Selena was pushed through that window to die, any of you who saw the movie would know what I'm talking about, you may want to look it up, I'm sure the clip is on the internet somewhere, but it's when Catwoman starts to emerge.

Anayway, enough of my rambling. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Charlie.

* * *

Shmi didn't know how long she had been kept at the jedi temple. But she had been given comfortable quarters to stay in and a droid brought her food and drink when she had need of it. In that time she rarely saw her son and when she did there was nothing but tension coming from him as though he expected her to attack him. He recoiled at her very touch and was always quick to leave her alone. She was visited daily by Anakin's friends, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the healer Minga Durron. Occasionally the small and funny looking Master Yoda came to see her always talking in riddles. Every day she was brought before the jedi council to be tested. Anakin was always there keeping an eye on her. Her son was an enigma to her. He was hard, cold and silent, yet at times he was her Ani. But then she would think of how he had killed those creatures that held her captive. She shuddered every time she thought about how easy a killer her son was. How he didn't even flinch with each life he had taken that day. It was as if he had done so many times before. She never imagined that her little boy could become what he had become.

At night she wished that she had Cliegg sleeping beside her as she fell sleep and as she woke from terrible nightmares screaming. She wished that he were there, but he wasn't. They were keeping her from him. She longed for someone to hold her as those nightmares woke her up. She didn't dare speak of such when Anakin came to visit, but she knew by the frown on his face that he knew already.

She turned sharply as the door opened, expecting a jedi to walk in, hoping, yet not hoping that it would be Anakin who walked in past her two guards. A smile broke out on her face when she saw Owen walk in. Possibly to take her home.

"Owen!" she cried happily embracing Cliegg's son. "I'm so happy to see you," she said.

Owen stepped out of her embrace to look her over. "Anakin had contacted me weeks ago, telling me that he had rescued you from those monsters and brought you here. He told me that they had done something unnatural to you and that I should come here to Coruscant right away. He never mentioned what it was they did to you though," he told her in disbelief. He stepped away further shaking his head. "This is most unexpected. When they stole your body, the anger I saw in Anakin's eyes sent shivers down my spine. The last time I saw that look was when he had brought your body back to the homestead," he told her.

Shmi frowned at his reaction to seeing her. "He told me that I had died, I never dreamed that he could become so cold to tell me such a lie," she told him tears forming in her eyes.

"He shouldn't have told you that yet," Owen said frowning. He sighed. "What is done is done then," he said.

Shmi looked at him then. "He was speaking the truth?" she asked.

"You don't know Anakin at all if you think he would lie about something like that. You didn't see what your death did to him. When Dad told him that you were kidnapped by tuskans and that you couldn't have survived, he refused to believe us. He left in search for you before Beru could serve lunch, we didn't see him until the next morning when he came back with your body. He wrapped your body up in cloth and dug your grave himself. He never said a word to any of us. Anakin never got over your death and confessed to me his laps into insanity shortly after," Owen told her.

As she listened to him, Shmi's hands covered her mouth imagining what Anakin must have gone through. No wonder she couldn't reach him. "He's hardly spoken to me Owen. It's as though he wants nothing to do with me," she told him.

"I'm sure that's not it," Owen told her. He looked around for a bit. "I think that you should be staying with him and not alone in here," he told her. "I'll speak to Padme about it, perhaps she can convince Anakin to talk them into releasing you into his care if he hasn't tried already," he told her.

"What does a queen's handmaiden have to do with my son?" Shmi asked.

Owen looked at her confused. "Anakin didn't tell you?" he asked.

"Tell me what?" Shmi asked.

"Senator Padme Amidala isn't a queen's handmaiden, she's Anakin's wife," Owen told her.

"His wife?" Shmi asked shocked to hear of this.

Owen nodded. "She said something about meeting you once along with a fellow by the name of Qui-Gon Jinn, does that sound familiar?" he asked.

Before Shmi could answer the door opened again and Anakin stepped in. "Sorry I'm late, but I was speaking with Master Yoda on important business," he said looking at Owen.

"Anakin, don't you think that our mother would be more comfortable staying with you rather than being locked up as though she were in a prison?" Owen asked.

Anakin turned his attention to his mother. "Is this what this feels to you?" he asked.

"You know very well that I'm being treated like a prisoner Anakin. To tell you the truth, I haven't felt this way since Watto won us from a bet he had made with Gardulla," Shmi told him.

At that comparison Anakin stiffened. "I'm sorry you feel like a prisoner. It was not mine nor Master Yoda's intention. I will speak to him about it, perhaps we can figure something out," he told her.

"I appreciate it," she told him. "When do you think I can go home? I'm sure Cliegg must be worried sick."

Owen and Anakin shared a look before Owen spoke. "Mom, Dad died five months ago," he said.

This was the first time that Shmi had heard Owen address her as such and was confused by it until Anakin spoke.

"We've read your diary, we know that you adopted Owen," Anakin explained.

Shmi didn't know what to say to that. She had been so afraid to tell Owen, afraid that he would reject her. She sat down and folded her hands in her lap before meeting Owen's eyes. "Your father and I didn't want you to find out like this," she told him.

"Why didn't you tell me then?" Owen asked.

"I was afraid that you would reject me. You were always so moody around me," Shmi confessed.

Owen sat down next to her and took her hand. "I thought you had already rejected me. When Dad decided to marry you, I was thrilled. But I always felt insignificant when you would talk about Anakin. It was as if I couldn't live up to your real son," he told her.

Shmi cupped his cheek. "I had already felt as though you were my own," she told him and then looked over at Anakin to see him stiffen. "I wish that I had been there to see the two of you meet. But seeing both of my boys together now brings a smile to my face," she told them.

Anakin watched the exchange between his mother and Owen wishing that he could be the same way, but something was stopping him. He couldn't allow himself to be close to her, not now. "I need to go, Obi-Wan and I are in the middle of a very important project," he spoke up.

Shmi stood up at that. "Must you go Ani?" she asked.

Anakin looked away from her. Hearing her call him that brought back the old pain. He needed to get out of here. "We're at war and I am the commander of the Republican Army, I'm needed elsewhere," he told her.

"Surely Obi-Wan can manage without you for a while!" Owen told him.

Anakin looked at him then. "This whole army was my idea. It's my responsibility. I don't take that lightly," he told him. He turned to look at his mother. "I'll speak with Master Yoda to see about making things more comfortable for you," he said and left.

Shmi watched him go not knowing what to make of him. "I don't understand him Owen. What happened to him?" She whispered.

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"Feels like a prisoner she does?" Master Yoda asked.

"That's what she said Master. I can't have her feeling like that," Anakin said. 

"Cannot find anything significant with her the council does. Perhaps if out in a more comfortable environment can we learn anything new," Master Yoda suggested.

"You mean to take her out of the temple?" Anakin asked. "What should happen if the separatists finds her?"

"Make their move yet they will not. Take her home with you, you will. Until more is known, keep her hidden we will," Master Yoda told him.

"Yes Master," Anakin said.

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When Anakin returned to his quarters Owen was still sitting and talking to Shmi. He set down the bundle of clothe he had brought before he spoke. "I have spoken to Master Yoda and have made arrangements," he said.

Shmi and Owen looked at him at that. "What arrangements?" Shmi asked skeptically.

"You will be coming to stay with me while we figure things out," Anakin told her.

"And when will that be?" Owen asked.

"Soon. We're waiting for Padme to arrive with her handmaidens. We're going to disguise you as one of them," Anakin explained to his mother.

"Why all the secrecy. What is wrong with my being who I am?" Shmi asked.

"Owen could we have a moment?" Anakin asked.

"Sure, I have some things to take care of here anyway," Owen said standing up. He kissed Shmi's cheek and gave her hand a squeeze before he left.

When he was gone Shmi looked over at Anakin and noticed how tense he was. "What is it?" she asked.

Anakin was sure that he had seen that look she was giving him before. He turned away to compose himself before he spoke. "I've told you that I have made enemies in this war. Dangerous enemies. They've tried to kill me and will try again. They will use whatever means necessary to get rid of me. If they knew of the people that I was close to, they would use them to get to me," he told her. He then turned to her to see her blank expression. She was trying to hide her feelings on the matter but was doing a poor job. "If they knew about you, you will be in danger just because of your connection to me. That is why you must remain hidden," he told her.

Shmi stood up then. "How Dangerous are they?" she asked.

"The sith are the most dangerous beings in the galaxy. They're ruthless force users. They are ruled by hate and aggression. And they're out for revenge. There is a plot to destroy all the jedi. The worst part is that the leader of the republic is a sith lord in disguise," he told her.

"The republic doesn't sound much better than Tatooine," Shmi told him.

"You haven't been a part of the republic before this war. Trust me, it is a lot better than what you're used to," he said.

The door opened and Baxter stepped through. "Anakin, Senator Amidala and her handmaidens have arrived," he informed them.

"Thanks Bax. You guys can leave now," Anakin told him.

"It's a good thing too, I think I'm going to sneak into the kitchens to get a before supper snack," Baxter told him.

Anakin smirked. "Tell Gurtie I said hi," he told him.

"Did I ever thank you for making Gurtie? Cause that droids always gives me something extra," Baxter asked.

"Which I'm sure was meant for me," Anakin told him.

"Looks like I just gave myself away then," Baxter said grinning. 

"Get out of here before I kick your butt," Anakin told him.

"Bring it on chosen one!" Baxter challenged good natured before leaving.

When he left Padme walked in followed by her four handmaidens. Padme smiled upon seeing Shmi. "It's good to see you again," she said. Her handmaidens bowed to her before standing off to the back. "When Anakin told me about what had happened I was quite surprised," she finished.

"I don't really know what to say Senator," Shmi said at last.

Padme smiled. "Please, call me Padme. She then motioned to her handmaidens. "This is Dorme, Verse, Motee, and Elle," she said introducing her handmaidens.

"We need to think up an alias," Anakin said walking up next to Padme.

Padme turned to him. "What do you suggest?" she asked.

Anakin rubbed his chin with his right forefinger and thumb. "Sorte Finola," he said finally.

"Did you just make that up or have you already thought about it?" Padme asked.

"It just came to me now," Anakin told her.

"You never cease to amaze me Ani," Padme told him.

"It comes from my undercover training, every jedi takes that course," Anakin said.

"Then why don't you use it more often? It could save you from getting hurt more often," Padme pointed out.

"It's just not how things work out, not for me anyway," Anakin said. He then picked up the bundle of clothes and handed them to Shmi. "If you're going to play the part of handmaiden, you're going to have to look it," he told her.

"I'll help you," Dorme said walking into the bedroom with Shmi.

"When can we expect you home?" Padme asked looking straight at Anakin.

"I'm not sure Padme. I have a lot of work to do," Anakin told her.

"Anakin, don't do this. Don't start to avoid her, she's your mother," Padme told him.

"I'm sorry Padme, I just can't... it's too late. Don't ask me to do something I'm not ready for," Anakin told her.

Padme came up to him and placed her hands on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "I know this is hard for you, but please don't shut us out," she asked of him.

"I can't, you know what would happen if I had to watch her die again," Anakin told her.

"Well does she look the part?"

Anakin and Padme stepped apart when Dorme came back out with Shmi. Anakin chanced a look at his mother and guessed that she had heard every word. He turned away again choosing to look at Padme. "Don't wait up for me, There is a lot of things I need to go over with Obi-Wan," he said and then gave her a quick kiss before leaving.

"Milady?" Dorme asked.

Padme turned away from where Anakin had exited planing on waiting for his return that night. She nodded. "You did an excellent job," she said at last with a smile. 

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"When Anakin commed to tell me you would be staying here, I took the liberality of setting your room up. There are new clothes in the closet for you to wear," Padme said as she showed Shmi the room where she would be staying.

Shmi couldn't remember the last time she had been inside such luxury. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that she had been inside a luxurious home one time but she didn't acknowledge it. It was a mystery. Perhaps her earliest years as a slave was spent in a luxury home. She brushed those thoughts aside and moved about the room. All of her things were in here. She didn't question how they got here, she just marveled at the care that someone took at making this room look and feel like home to her. There were holo's of her with Cliegg and with her and Anakin, but one was missing. Her favorite holo was missing. She frowned at that and turned to the bedside, her diary was placed on the nightstand with a fresh pencil and pen. She then turned to look at Padme who stood in the doorway watching her.

"Thank you," Shmi said.

Padme smiled. "You don't have to thank me," she told her. "I'll send Threepio out to get us some dinner. I'm afraid that I'm not much of a cook," she said.

"I can cook if you'd like," Shmi offered.

"You're a guest, I couldn't have you cooking for us," Padme said.

"I need something to do," Shmi told her.

Padme thought about it for moment before nodding. "I'll show you were everything is, I think I know where Anakin keeps everything," she said.

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It was late when Anakin decided to return home. He chose a time when everyone would already be asleep. He was tired and sore. He had spent the better part of the day challenging a good number of jedi in the temple to a duel occasionally getting beat, but he would challenge them to a rematch and win. When he was beginning to get really sore, he didn't stop until Obi-Wan and Master Yoda forced him to stop. From there he immersed himself into working on his plans for the army dragging Obi-Wan with him. He didn't stop. Not until the time on the crono read 1200 hours. From there he took his time getting home.

The apartment was quiet and dark when he walked in. It was almost eerie. Anakin moved through apartment and into the hallway. He paused outside one door feeling with the force his mother sleeping within. Satisfied that she was sleeping he moved on into his and Padme's bedroom. He looked over at the bed to see Padme laying curled up on her side. The rhythmic rise and fall of her chest indicated that she was asleep. He was somewhat grateful for that yet somewhat disappointed.

Gradually he began to disrobe wincing a little at his sore muscles until finally he was stripped down to his pants. He sat down briefly to pull off his boots and set them aside before climbing into bed. No sooner had he curled up next to Padme than she twisted and sat up giving him 'the look'. He hated 'the look'. Anakin didn't say anything as she glanced over at the crono. He was going to let her speak first.

"Anakin," she began. She shook her head. "I want you home today, You can't avoid her, not while she's in our home," she told him.

"Padme," Anakin began. "I can't be around her," he told her.

Padme crossed her arms over her chest. Anakin noted how this simple act pushed her breast up a little. "Then why did you bring her here?" she demanded.

Anakin tore his gaze away from her chest to meet her eyes. "I was ordered to," her told her simple. In his mind he was formulating a plan to make her forget about this subject for the time being. He leaned in closer to her. "Did I ever tell you how sexy you look when you pout?" he asked pulling her closer to him.

"Anakin, this conversation isn't over," Padme told him placing her hands on his chest. "You're not going to distract me – oh, that feels good," she said as he began to nibble on her secret spot.

Anakin grinned, it worked like a charm.

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_Shmi didn't know where she was. All she knew she had find a way out. She wondered aimlessly through the dark cave. Something inside of her told her that something was wrong. But she continued on. Finally she found her way out and stopped. There was a man dressed in all black. He stood with his back to her overlooking something below the landing. His arms were spread with his palms rested on the stone railing. She could hear the sounds of something industrial going on. She felt as though she wasn't supposed to be here. Something was wrong. Before she could turn around and go back from where she had come the man turned around. For a brief second she felt as though she might be safe because the man who stood before her was Anakin, but that was before she saw his eyes. They weren't blue, they were yellow and they looked murderous! She backed away from him. But the more she backed up, the more he approached her. She began to panic when her back felt the wall behind her. He was still walking towards her. _

"_Ani, what are you doing?" she asked fearfully._

"_I'm not Ani," he told her reaching out a black gloved hand and grabbing her by the throat. Beneath the black glove she knew that it was no flesh hand, it was hard like steal. It's grip tightened around her throat and she clawed at it gasping for breath unable to keep from looking into those yellow eyes so full of hatred and bent on murder._

_He pulled her away from the wall and twisted her around till her back was against the railing pushing her, bending her back over it. _

"_Please, don't do this," she begged._

"_Your son is dead," He told her and roughly shoved her over the railing._

_Shmi felt herself falling until she hit something hard and sharp like many knives ripping and tearing at her back, ripping and tearing her apart and she continued to fall through it until she was falling through air again before she hit the ground. She briefly opened her eyes up to see nothing but inky darkness and cold. She was in pain, oh so much pain. Suddenly she grew afraid. More afraid than she had been before. Then she heard it, the mechanical breathing. It sent chills up her spine. Then she saw a tall black figure emerge from the shadows. She heard the hiss as a blood red blade appeared in the figure's hand. She began to scream then hoping that someone would hear her. _

Shmi jerked away screaming. She barely felt two strong arms wrap themselves around her pulling her to their owner. She didn't know who this was and fought against it. But the more she fought the stronger they got.

"Mom, Mom, it's okay, I'm here, it's okay," she heard Anakin say. Suddenly she relaxed and clung to him before she began to cry.

She stopped crying and looked up to see his face, his eyes mostly, they were piercing blue. She knew that she was safe now. She moved out of his arms then. "Aren't I then one who should comfort you after a bad dream?" she said.

Anakin frowned. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"It was just a dream," Shmi told him.

"Sometimes the force tries to tell us something in our dreams. At least that is what I tell myself," Anakin told her.

"I don't know anything about the force," Shmi told him. She noticed the corners of his mouth twist upwards briefly.

"Sometimes it helps to talk about the dreams," he told her knowingly.

"Do you have bad dreams often?" she asked. Anakin didn't say anything. "I see," she said. "If you don't talk about yours, then why should I talk about mine," she pointed out much as she used to when he was child.

Anakin stood up then. "I'll see you in the morning," he told her stiffly before leaving.

As she watched him go, she noticed that part of his right arm was artificial and she shivered. 


	39. A Day At Home

A/N: Well yet another chapter. I paused in writing this to write another story 'The Skywalker Spirit' which is a side project which is going to be full of drama, I suggest you check it out. Anayway, I had a hard time finding where I was going in this chapter. I'm satisfied with how it turned out. I hope you are too.

Charlie.

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Anakin never got to sleep the night before. He knew that if he did fall asleep he would relive that terrible moment more than two years ago. He couldn't do that. Instead he stayed up in the living room making plans. He had spent the better part of the night finishing the army training plans and the rest formulating a plan of attack aimed mainly for the clones. He would handle Sidious himself. He stood up when the sun was rising and picked up his comlink. "Obi-Wan," he said into the comlink. When there was no sound coming out he tried again louder "OBI-WAN!". He knew that his friend kept his comlink beside his bed and he knew that he kept it on. There were some noises then followed by a groggy Obi-Wan.

"Anakin! It's only dawn. Didn't you get any sleep?" Obi-Wan said through clenched teeth.

"No, you?" Anakin replied.

"Well I was having a pleasant sleep until it was interrupted," Obi-Wan pointed out somewhat irritated.

"Well as long as you were awake," Anakin said and could have sworn that he heard Obi-Wan growl. "I've finished with the training plans," he finished.

"You woke me up to tell me that?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I've also come up with an idea to destroy the clones without the chancellor knowing," Anakin told him.

"Anakin, you're obsessing about the clones, stop it," Obi-Wan told him.

"I don't trust them," Anakin said.

"Neither do I. But did you ever think about the fact that they do nothing without being ordered to do it? If the clones attack us it will be because the clones were ordered to," Obi-Wan told him.

"Which is best if we got rid of them before they could be ordered to kill us," Anakin pointed out.

Obi-Wan sighed. "What is your plan Anakin?" he asked.

"It has to be subtle. We can't have anyone thinking that they were killed off by us. There for I suggest poison, but then that's too obvious, and then I thought about something else. What do people do to damage computers from within? They put a virus in them," Anakin told him.

"Anakin, are you insane?" Obi-Wan demanded. "Viruses spread! They can spread through the whole population!"

"I thought about that. Look I still have samples of the clone's DNA, I can create a virus that specializes in clones, effects clones only," Anakin told him.

"You've lost it Anakin. Don't ask me to be a part of this madness. Not this time. Stop obsessing over the clones, and focus on the sith lord! If I catch one hint that you're carrying out this act of insanity I will be forced to tell Master Yoda about this," Obi-Wan told him.

"You forget one thing Master," Anakin pointed out.

"What is that?"

"Master Yoda is on my side," Anakin told him.

"Fine, then I'll tell Master Windu, I'm sure he is looking for something to nail you with," Obi-Wan threatened.

"You'll get me kicked out of the order," Anakin told him.

"I will do what I must," Obi-Wan told him.

"And so will I," Anakin told him.

"Anakin, please for once, listen to me. It will never work. Palpatine will catch wind of this, he'll find some way to pin it on us. You have to see reason. If you go down this path, you will cause exactly what you are trying to avoid," Obi-Wan warned.

"I have to stop the clones from massacring us, you've got to understand that," Anakin told him.

"Anakin for once listen to yourself. The only way to stop order sixty six is to stop Palpatine," Obi-Wan told him. Anakin didn't say anything. "Anakin? Anakin are you listening?"

"I hear you Obi-Wan," Anakin told him.

"But are you listening?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yeah. Look, I'll discuss things with you later. Right now I have to clear my head," Anakin said.

"Please Anakin don't do anything rash," Obi-Wan begged.

"I won't do anything Master," Anakin told him switching off. "Yet," he finished.

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Shmi backed up into the hallway. She knew that she shouldn't have been eavesdropping. But she couldn't help it. It disturbed her some how Anakin could talk so freely of destroying many lives. She couldn't continue standing in the hall hiding. She knew that she should come out and speak to him. She squared her shoulders and walked out into the living room. "Good morning," she said in the brightest voice she could manage.

Anakin turned to face her. "Morning," he said politely. He moved away from the window and began collecting all of his datapads up from the couches and stacking them in neat piles making room for her to sit down. 

"What is it that you're working on?" Shmi asked.

"Military stuff," Anakin told her. He picked up some of the datapads and walked over to a painting on the wall. He touched certain parts of the paining which were touch sensitive to fingerprints and the picture itself slid back and to the side revealing a safe. From there he cleared the high tech security with his own codes to open up the safe so that he could store the datapads in there. When he was done he turned around and raked his right hand through his hair giving Shmi a clear view of the mechanics.

Shmi shivered again when she saw the hand and turned away from it. "What happened to your arm?" she asked.

"I lost it in a fight," Anakin told her and then added, "with a sith."

"When did it happen?" Shmi asked.

Anakin didn't say anything for a moment. He had to choose his words carefully. Finally he decided on what he was going to say. "A little over two years ago. When the clone wars started," He told her. "I was careless and angry. I foolishly jumped into that fight too soon. It will not happen again," he finished.

Shmi didn't know what to say. What could she say? She hated the topic, but she knew that this was a step further. He was talking to her. "What are your plans today?" she asked.

"He's staying home today," Padme said as she walked into the living room.

Anakin turned sharply to her. He crossed his arms. "So I'm not allowed to give orders but you are?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"When you give orders, you treat me as if I was one of the clones working under you," Padme pointed out.

"I do not!" Anakin argued.

"You do. You think you're the only one who knows what is best for everyone, but you're not," Padme told him.

"And you expect me to just stand by and let you get hurt?" Anakin demanded.

"I am quite capable in battle, you know that already. You seem to forget that I liberated Naboo from the trade federation's blockade. I fought inside the palace where we were surrounded by battle droids and destroyers while you sat in the cockpit of one of the palace's royal navy's ships. I've been trained for battle longer than you have," Padme told him. She smiled. "I also took on a nexu single handedly in the battle of Geonosis," she added.

Anakin sighed. "You're right. I don't give you enough credit. I just don't like the idea of you getting hurt that's all," he told her.

"Ani, we've fought alongside each other, when did you see me get hurt?" she asked.

"I remember that nexu clawing your back," Anakin reminded her.

Padme waved her hand at that. "That was nothing. You're the one who's been at deaths door several times. I'm the one who sits here hearing about how you couldn't have survived, yet I don't argue with you for leaving for battle time and time again," she told him.

Shmi said nothing as she listened to them. It disturbed her that Anakin had come close to dying more times than one. Then she remembered her dream. "Your son is dead". Why would she dream about such a horrible thing? What did it mean? Something inside of her told her that Anakin would know. But would he tell her?

"I'm going to get dressed. If the senate is anything like it was yesterday, I may be home early again," Padme said.

"What's going on in the senate? Last time I checked it was in chaos," Anakin asked.

"The senate is in chaos. The problem is that Chancellor Palpatine has been ending the sessions before we can make any real decisions. It's all because we're now making the decisions and not giving him more emergency powers, but he claims that we cannot afford to argue while we're at war and it's better if he makes all the decisions," Padme told him.

Anakin frowned. "He's realizing that the tables are turning on him. This isn't good. The jedi, we're not ready to strike yet," he said pacing. "I need to know everything that happens in the senate," he muttered and then stopped and looked at Padme. "The senate proceedings are recorded right?" he asked.

Padme nodded. "Do you want copies?" she asked.

Anakin nodded. "I think that would be best, I can go over them with Obi-Wan and Master Yoda and we can decide on what to do next," he said.

"I'll start working on it then," Padme told him giving Anakin a quick kiss. "Make the best of the situation," she whispered to him. "I'm hoping that we could get some work done today," she said before going back into the bedroom to get dressed leaving Anakin and Shmi alone.

Anakin turned to see his mother sitting still with her hands folded and trying not to look at him. He had no idea what to do with the situation. What was he supposed to do with her all day? Padme had made it clear that he was staying home today. Finally he sighed. "I'm sure you're hungry," he said breaking the silence. "I usually make breakfast in the morning since I'm up first," he told her.

Shmi looked at him then and placed a smile on her face for his benefit. "I guess I could eat something," she said and stood up.

Anakin didn't say anything more and just nodded before walking into the kitchen followed by Shmi.

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Minga used Obi-Wan's instruction on how to get to Senator Amidala's apartment and found 500 Republica fairly easy. She needed to talk to Anakin. She hadn't gotten the chance to talk to him since Shmi was mysteriously brought back from the dead. She knew that it was putting some strain on Anakin's mentality. Anakin didn't need it, not with Vader to worry about. Minga was sure that Anakin was going go in back from his recovery over Vader.

Minga boarded the lift and pressed the button to Senator Amidala's apartment before pressing the security code clearance that Obi-Wan had given her. The ride up in the lift was long and she wondered how high up the apartment was. Her worry over Anakin increased with each passing moment. Finally the lift came to a stop and opened up into Senator Amidala's apartment and she stepped off of it.

"Anakin, are you here?" she called. She sighed with relief when Anakin came into the room.

Anakin was surprised to see Minga but was relieved to have someone else in the apartment. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm worried about you," Minga told him and noticed Shmi standing in the doorway to another room. "We haven't gotten a chance to talk lately," she said. She didn't know how much Shmi knew and decided to be careful about her words.

Anakin nodded. "We can talk in the kitchen," he said.

Minga followed Anakin into the kitchen and took off her cloak and draped it over a chair at the table before sitting down.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Anakin asked.

"Whatever you have I'm fine with," Minga told him. She watched as he poured two glasses of juice before sitting down at the table across from her after handing her a glass of juice. She set the juice aside and clasped her hands together on the table and leaned forward. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

Anakin raked a hand through his hair. "Honestly?" he asked. She nodded. "I'm angry. I'm angry because of what those creatures did to my mother," he told her.

"The first or the second time?" Minga asked.

"Both actually," Anakin told her and sighed. "I've accepted her death. I had just finally accepted it and now this happens," he said.

"I'm worried that this is going to cause a set back with the progress we've made with Vader," Minga told him.

Anakin leaned back in his seat. "I've thought about that," he told her and then leaned forward so he could speak lower. "Sidious knows about Vader," He told her.

"Did you tell him?" Minga asked sharply.

"I had to tell him something. He caught me in his apartment when I was looking for evidence to nail him with. I had to make up a story fast and that's what I came up with," Anakin told her.

Minga shook her head. "You could have lied about something else," she told him.

"He would have become suspicious if I lied, he can tell when I lie," Anakin told her and then continued. "Anyway. I think my mother is just another pawn for him to play in an effort to turn me to the dark side. It's like a game of chess," he said.

"Anakin, just because you're good at chess and other games like sabacc doesn't mean you can play games where the stakes are for your life. This is a dangerous game you're playing with Sidious," Minga told him.

"I'm the only one who can do it. I'm supposed to be the chosen one, it's my job, besides, I'm supposed to be close to the chancellor," Anakin told her.

"He'll kill you for your betrayal, you know," Minga told him.

Anakin leaned back in his seat. "If I die, I'm taking him with me," he told her determinedly.

"You expect to die in this war don't you?" Minga asked alarmed.

"It's a possibility that I've taken into consideration," Anakin told her shifting in his seat.

"You shouldn't be thinking like this Anakin," Minga told him.

Anakin leaned forward again. "What else should I be thinking of? There is a giant possibility that I'm going to die. We still don't know who poisoned me, who hired the assassin. And we both know that once I take on Sidious, he'll make damned sure that I'll die even if I take him with me," he told her.

"Negative thinking will only bring out negative actions," Minga told him.

"I'm being realistic Minga, you and Obi-Wan need to be thinking that way too. I haven't said anything to Padme, but I am sorting all my affairs in order. Because if I don't make it, I want Padme taken care of," he told her.

"And what about your mother? Where does she fit in all this?" Minga asked.

"I'm still trying to figure that out," Anakin told her and took a sip from his glass of juice.

"Did you get a chance to question the ones who brought her back from well, the dead?" Minga asked.

"No," Anakin told her. "I killed them all before they could say anything," he added. 

"Anakin!" Minga snapped upset. "Number one, that is not how a jedi deals with things! Number two, that's what Vader would do!"

"I know. I wasn't thinking. It's not going to happen again," Anakin told her.

"Anakin, that's not an excuse. You shouldn't have done that!" Minga told him.

"You think I don't feel sick that I did it? Vader wasn't in control then Minga! It was all me! It bothers me to no end!" Anakin told her.

"Anakin, this isn't good. Maybe you didn't conquer Vader after all, maybe he's becoming a part of you," Minga told him worriedly.

"I can't think about that," Anakin told her standing up. "The thought that I can become him. I just can't let the happen," he said.

"I'm going to have to prescribe you something else to keep this from happening. We need to talk more. I'm worried about you, about this game you're playing. I just wish there was a way we could stop it," Minga told him standing up. "I'm going to have to get back to the temple. Obi-Wan said that he would be by later," she told him.

Anakin nodded. "I'm going to try to come around sometime tomorrow. There's some things that I need to discuss with Master Yoda," He told her.

Minga put her cloak back on. "Maybe I can get you to help out in the medical bay for old times sake," she said with a smile.

"It would certainly give me something to do to get my mind off of things," Anakin said agreeing.

Minga looked at him then. "Wow, I hadn't expected to hear you agree. You haven't helped out in the medical bay since you were what was it, oh yeah nineteen," she said.

Anakin shrugged. "Maybe I need to brush up on my healing techniques," he told her.

"I'm sure you've used them on yourself on quite a few occasions," Minga told him.

Anakin grinned at her. "Well I did stitch myself up a few months ago," he reminded her.

"You're such a show off," Minga told him sarcastically.

"I'll walk you to the door," Anakin offered as she got to the door to the kitchen.

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Shmi backed up and out of the hall into another room before they could pass her. She knew that she shouldn't have been eavesdropping again. But Something told her that Anakin wasn't telling her something, something that as his mother she needed to know. She could also tell that Minga knew about it. Which is why she eavesdropped. She noted that the room she was in wasn't hers, and that it had a black cloak thrown across the bed as well as other pieces of black clothing. Datapads were stacked on one dresser as well as a familiar holo. The holo that until now she thought was missing. She picked it up and remembered the day it was taken. It was one of those happy days. It was Anakin's birthday and Jira had decided to help Shmi make it a good birthday since Watto had gone away on business for a couple of days. Jira had taken the holo. It was always one of her favorites. She placed the holo back in it's place and noticed her pendant. The one that she had since she could remember. She briefly wondered how all of her stuff ended up on Coruscant.

"What are you doing in here?"

Shmi turned around to see Anakin standing in the doorway. She couldn't see any indication that he was upset. But what could she say to give an excuse for her being in here?

"Never mind," Anakin said shaking his head as he walked further into the room going for the refresher.

Shmi didn't know what made her do it, but she couldn't stop the words from escaping her mouth. "Who's Vader?" she asked.

Anakin froze but he didn't turn to face her. "You were listening?" he asked.

Shmi couldn't deny it. "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. All I wanted was to get something to drink, but I heard you talking, I didn't want to interrupt," she lied.

Anakin turned to her then. "Why are you lying?" he asked. "You never lied before."

"I'm sorry. I just don't understand you, I'm not sure what would upset you anymore. I just need to know what is going on, is that so wrong?" she said.

"It's not wrong to need to know what is going on around you. I'm sorry that I'm not all that forthcoming about things," he told her and turned to go into the refresher.

"Then who is Vader?" Shmi asked.

"Don't worry about Vader, he's not going to make an appearance. You don't have to know about him," Anakin told her before going into the refresher.

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Obi-Wan left the council chambers after the council meeting was adjourned and headed down to his quarters to grab some notes knowing that Anakin would want to go over them while he's at the apartment when he ran into Siri. There was a slight change to her force signature which had him confused for moment. She was carrying a pile of datapads and she didn't notice him when she walked right into him. All of the datapads she was carrying fell to the floor and Obi-Wan dropped his bag full of notes to help steady her. "Are you alright?" he asked her. He frowned at the panic in her eyes once she saw him.

"I'm fine," she quickly said and bent to pick up her datapads. She seemed to forget about using the force which made him frown some before he decided to help her using the force.

"You don't seem fine," He told her.

Siri planted a smile on her face for his benefit. "I'm just preoccupied that's all," she lied.

"You haven't been acting like yourself lately," He told her. "Does this have anything to do with your mission?" he asked.

Obi-Wan saw her stiffen and the panic was back in her eyes and he became worried. "I'm fine Obi-Wan. My ego is just bruised, that's all," she told him.

"You can talk to me Siri. Whatever it is that's bothering you, you can tell me. I will not judge you is you did anything unbefitting of a jedi while you were on that mission," he told her.

"I'm fine, can't you trust me enough to give you the truth," she told him.

"Alright. But if you ever need anything, you can come to me," Obi-Wan told her.

Siri nodded. "I may take you up on that offer sometime," she told him and continued on her way leaving Obi-Wan baffled on her odd behavior.

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When Obi-Wan arrived at Senator Amidala's apartment he found Anakin lazily watching something on the holonet looking bored. "What are you watching?" he asked sitting down across from him.

"The news, there's a segment on the senate on right now," Anakin told him.

"Ah, hence the bored look on your face," Obi-Wan said. He looked around. "Are you alone?" he asked.

"My mother is taking a nap, I'm supposed to be spending the day with her on Padme's orders," Anakin told him. He then brightened up as he thought of something. "Hey do you think you can stay here for a bit?" he asked.

Obi-Wan looked at him skeptically. "Why? What are you planning?" he asked.

Anakin stood up. "I need to get out for a bit. I feel like I'm in some sort of cell," he told him.

"Anakin, you can't leave me alone here, we've got work to do," Obi-Wan told him.

"I just need to fly something for a bit, I'll be back and then we can get to work," Anakin told him.

"And what am I supposed to do?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin shrugged. "Watch the holonet," he told him before leaving.

"Anakin! I came here to actually do some work not babysit!" Obi-Wan called after him, but Anakin only ignored him and disappeared. Muttering to himself he tuned into the holonet news.

"Where's Anakin?"

Obi-Wan turned to see Shmi in the doorway from the hall. "He just left to go piloting," he told her. "At least I'm not with him this time," he couldn't help adding.

"Why is that?" Shmi asked sitting down across from him.

"Because of the stunts Anakin likes to pull. Don't get me wrong, he's the best star pilot in the galaxy, he's even designed a new line of starfighters for the war. I just don't like riding in a speeder I know he's piloting," Obi-Wan told her.

"He's always been that way. Ani was born to fly," Shmi told him.

Obi-Wan could tell that something was on her mind. "is there something on your mind?" he asked.

Shmi folded her hands in her lap. "I'm not sure how to word this," she said.

"Just say what's on your mind," Obi-Wan told her.

"Well, you know my son better than I do. I just don't know how to reach him, perhaps you can tell me what I can do," Shmi requested.

Obi-Wan shifted in his seat. "Well if Anakin isn't reaching out to you it means he's afraid to. He's already lost you once he can't afford to go through that again, especially now. Give him time, he'll reach out, he always does eventually," he told her.

"There is so much that I need to know," Shmi told him.

"If you want to know about Anakin's life, you should ask him," he told her.

"But what if he dies before he decides to open up. I overheard him talking about how he expects to die. When I gave him away I never wanted him to die fighting," Shmi said showing how bothered she was.

"Anakin isn't going to die in the war. If anything he'll be the one to end it," Obi-Wan told her. "You should be proud of Anakin. He's a skilled warrior and a brilliant tactician. Anakin can turn a hopelessly loosing situation into a winning one in mere minutes. He is the galaxy's hero. The press call him the hero without fear and it's an accurate description for him." he paused. "But there's a side to Anakin that only a few of us know. On our last two missions, Anakin had picked up stray children and interrupted our mission to find them homes. He's always loved children, he used to kidnap the younglings in the temple to play with them. He was convinced that they needed play time. He cares deeply for those around him and always helps others who are in need. Anakin's not like the other jedi, he's ruled by his heart rather than logic and serenity."

Shmi smiled at hearing Obi-Wan speak about her son. She was indeed proud of him. "I just wish that he would open up to me the way he used to," she whispered.

"Give him time. He's just getting used to having you back into his life," Obi-Wan told her. 


	40. Welcome To The Jungle

_A/N: Wow, a new chapter. Chapter 40, never thought I'd make it this far. I hadn't intended to make it this long! This is quite an achievement for me as you'll see that none of my stories last this long. Ha! I am enjoying writing this story. _

Anayway enough of my rambling. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Charlie.

* * *

_She watched from the upper levels of the jedi temple as a lone black figure lead a army of white armored men into the temple. She felt a shiver as she felt that she recognized the figure. Where was Anakin? She watched in horror as jedi tried to stop them, but the figure pulled out a blue lightsaber taking the jedi down. There was something eerily familiar about this figure. As though he sensed her watching he looked up and she instantly backed away. It was Anakin! But he had that look of murder in his eyes! _

Shmi sat down at the kitchen table the next morning drinking a cup of caf when Anakin walked in fully dressed. She checked the crono which stated that it was early dawn. She was normally an early riser, well back when she was on the farm, she was. She looked over to where Anakin stood pouring himself a cup of caf. "So are you an early riser?" she asked.

"Pretty much. I have an early morning routine that I go through every morning," Anakin told her turning around. He leaned against the counter and took a drink of caf.

"What is in your morning routine?" Shmi asked.

Anakin shrugged. "The normal, morning work out, shower, shave, breakfast, caf. Nothing special. But I like to get it all done before dawn," he said. He took another drink of caf before speaking again. "I have some work to do at the temple. I hope you don't mind going there again."

"Why can't I just stay here?" Shmi asked.

Anakin frowned. "Because you'll be alone. Anything can happen," he told her.

"I'm not too old to take care of myself Ani," Shmi told him.

"I'm not doubting that you can take care of yourself. But until this war is over, I'm not leaving you by yourself," Anakin said.

"I don't understand why you insist on treating me like a child," Shmi told him.

"Mom, you died! I'm not going to watch you die again. You're going to have to put up with it," Anakin told her.

"And you haven't forgiven me for it," Shmi told him.

Anakin looked at her blankly not knowing where this was coming from. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. He shook his head. "Anyway, Minga has asked for some help in the medical bay and I said that I'd help after I went over some things with Master Yoda," he told her.

"So where will I be during this meeting?" Shmi asked.

"Ah, well, You can stay with Minga until the meeting is over with. I shouldn't be that long," Anakin told her.

"I don't know a thing about medicine," Shmi told him.

"Neither did I until I began helping Minga out. Every time a I pulled a prank in the jedi temple and Obi-Wan was given the task to punish me, he sent me to help out in the medical bay knowing that the skills that I would learn in there would help me in the long run," Anakin told her. He finished his cup of caf before he spoke again. "You should be ready to go soon. I have to be at the temple soon," he said.

_I see that I have no choice_. Shmi stood up then. "I shall only be five minutes," she said leaving the kitchen. Once she was out of range from Anakin she leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. The dreams haven't stopped. She couldn't understand what they meant. She had heard about dreams having meanings. She had read somewhere that there were people who could tell you what your dreams meant. She quickly composed herself and walked into her room to get dressed for the day.

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Anakin sat in Master Yoda's chambers with the grand master and Obi-Wan. They had just finished watching the senate recordings. Anakin closed his eyes and tried using the force to help him think.

"He's on to us," Obi-Wan said. "We may have to find a different approach."

"Clouded the force is, shrouded in darkness it is. Easy for Sidious to find clarity in it's darkness," Master Yoda said.

Anakin opened his eyes and looked at them. "I must go to him," he said.

"Anakin no!" Obi-Wan said sharply.

"Dangerous it still is for you to go to him. Not yet finished with your training are you!" Master Yoda told him.

"Masters. I feel as though my fate ties in with his. If I am to end this, to destroy the sith, I must go," Anakin told them.

"Anakin, your fate does not tie in with Sidious'. You must listen to us. It's not time yet. You can't go to him. Not yet!" Obi-Wan told him forcefully.

"The force is guiding me on this. It's the only way. He will not slip unless I am there with him. I can _feel_ it," Anakin told them with conviction.

"Chosen one or not! Time of essence it is. Your timing, wrong it is," Master Yoda told him.

"What if we're wrong about the time? What if our estimated time is off?" Anakin suggested.

"Clouded our judgment may be? Hmmm? Was it not you who said we had two years hmmmm?" Master Yoda asked.

"Master. I am uncertain on the time we do have. All I have to go by is what Qui-Gon told me and the records that I looked up. The empire will rise in nineteen BBY. When I am uncertain. But so much has changed since, our timing may be off now. I've - we've changed the timing," Anakin told them.

Master Yoda closed his eyes and bowed his head. "Our planning come to naught it may. Changed the future has," he said.

Obi-Wan looked from Master Yoda and back to Anakin. "I really hope you know what you are doing," he said.

"I hope so too," Anakin said.

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Shmi finished with the filing that Minga had asked her to do and looked up in time to see Anakin walk into the medical bay with a grim look on his face. She wondered how the meeting went. "I take it things didn't go as planned," she said addressing him.

Anakin shrugged out of his cloak and hung it on a rack before getting something out of a locked refrigerator. "No, things are not going as planned," he said taking out vials of something that looked like blood and other things.

"Anakin Skywalker you put those back!" Minga snapped seeing what Anakin was doing.

"I'm not doing anything Minga. I'm just studying the DNA that's all," Anakin told her.

"Obi-Wan informed me of your scheme. You will not be doing it here! My lab will _NOT_ be a part of your madness!" Minga told him.

"What makes you think that you can stop me Minga?" Anakin asked.

"I'll destroy it," Minga threatened.

"And I'll kidnap another clone to get what I need," Anakin told her.

"Anakin, this is madness! Have you any clue what this obsession of yours will bring you to?!" Minga snapped taking the samples out of his hands.

"Minga, our best bet to stop them is to destroy them from within," Anakin told her.

"I'm telling Obi-Wan," Minga told him crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm not afraid of Obi-Wan," Anakin told her tartly.

"I'm telling the council!" Minga told him.

Anakin stopped what he was doing but didn't turn to face Minga. "I have to do something Minga. If you tell the council...I cannot...They can't have one more reason not to trust me," he sighed. "I will do what I must to stop Sidious. I don't expect you to understand that. By whatever means necessary I will stop him," he told her.

"Anakin, you need to leave the fate of the clones up to the Republican Army. That is the whole purpose for you starting it," Minga told him.

Shmi remained silent, merely observing the exchange. Instead she shuffled through the files finding something that poked out from the rest. One name. A name that she had heard Anakin and Obi-Wan discussing. Shmi never was one to snoop, but being in an unknown environment, she couldn't help herself. She checked to see that neither Minga's nor Anakin's attention was on her. she picked out the piece of flimsy and began to read. She hardly understood the medical jargon but one word she noticed. Baby. She glanced over at Minga and Anakin to see that they were still talking. But the sound of the doors opening made her file the flimsy again and she quickly put the files away.

Anakin and Minga turned as a jedi master brought in a wailing youngling. Anakin quickly stepped forward to take the fitful youngling out of the tire master's arms and onto one of the examining tables.

"What happened?" Anakin quickly asked.

Arista Licon looked at Minga. "I brought the youngling here to be treated not to be coddled," she said.

"Relax Master Licon, Knight Skywalker is trained to treat patients," Minga said calmly.

Arista folded her arms over her chest. "I mean no disrespect, but we are all well aware of Knight Skywalker's coddling of the younglings," she said.

"Still in the room," Anakin said tartly instantly calming the youngling down. "What happened?" he asked again.

"The younglings managed to get a hold of a padawan's lightsaber and tried to practice with it instead of the training sabers," Arista said.

Anakin winced as he examined the large gash on the youngling's arm. "Lightsabers are not toys. You must be skilled with a training saber and a padawan to wield a standard one. You don't want to end up with this do you?" he said to the youngling showing her his mechanical arm.

The youngling looked at the arm and used her uninjured arm to reach out and to touch it. She looked up at him with wide hazel eyes. "Did it hurt Anakin?" she asked.

Anakin nodded. "It still does," he told her honestly.

"Will my arm always hurt?" the youngling asked.

"The gash is pretty deep, but your arm will be back to new in no time. The healing is going to hurt some, but once the wound is healed, you wont feel any pain anymore," Anakin told her.

"How do you deal with your pain Anakin?" the youngling asked.

"I release it into the force," Anakin told her simply as he cleaned her wound.

"Owe!" she cried.

"I told you that it was going to hurt," Anakin told her taking the stitching that Minga offered him.

The youngling looked at the needle in fear. "It's going to hurt!" she cried.

"I'm going to give you something for the pain," Anakin told her calmly taking the syringe filled with a light silvery blue liquid from Minga. He was well aware of Master Licon's watchful eyes on him. He injected the pain killer in the younglings arm just above the gash before stitching her up. The youngling watched him with wide eyes and he knew that her wincing was not from the pain but from watching him stitch her up. He then wrapped her wound up in some bacta.

"There. Now the healing is going to itch some, refrain yourself from scratching and release the irritation a if any, pain into the force," Anakin told her taking the youngling off of the examining table and setting her on her feet.

"Thank you Anakin!" the youngling said giving him a quick hug. Anakin hugged the youngling back and patted her back before sending her off to Master Licon.

Shmi smiled. Seeing Anakin attend to the child was sweet. It reminded her of the little boy she raised instead of the man he had become. Perhaps she could see more. She looked forward to seeing more. To getting to know who her son was.

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Darth Sidious glowered at his minions. They have not yet been able to find and retrieve Shmi Skywalker. Incompetence was something the sith lord had little patience for. He watching in grim satisfaction as his minions thrashed about before him from the effects of the force lightning. Once he was satisfied that his message had come across their puny brains he stopped.

"Follow Skywalker. Find him and you will find her," he told them.

"It will be done Milord."

"Do not fail me again," Darth Sidious threatened.

"As you wish."

Darth Sidious watched as his minions scrambled out of his sight. Soon he will have Shmi Skywalker in his custody. Soon he will unlock the secrets of Anakin Skywalker's birth and conception. Darth Sidious grinned evilly. Having Shmi Skywalker in his custody could also prove useful. He had no doubt that Skywalker had his mother. No other jedi would leave such carnage behind after the shahmen brought the mother back into the realm of the living. No, he had no doubt that Skywalker was keeping his mother closely guarded. But soon he will slip. He will slip and his fall will be complete.

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"Hey Chosen One!" Baxter shouted bursting into the medical bay startling Shmi who was getting instructions on how to treat certain things.

Minga glared at him. "Baxter Ling! I see that you still haven't matured!" she snapped.

"I know you love me anyways Minga," Baxter said smugly as walked over to where Anakin was working doing some sort of research. "You know Skywalker, you owe me big!" he said.

Anakin grinned but didn't look at him. "How so?" he asked.

"Well, lets see, you still haven't paid me back for when you dragged me on that half hatched scheme of yours with the clones, then there was the fact that while we were on that mission to rescue that ungrateful princess from the separatists you stuck _me_ with guarding that wench! Which you gave that feeble excuse that I'm still a padawan and your not anymore which you didn't earn by the way, your knighthood was _eefing_ handed to you!" Baxter said naming off the way which Anakin owed him.

Anakin stopped what he was doing and turned around to lean against the counter. "So I owe you because I'm a knight and you're still a padawan? That's lame. For your information I did earn my knighthood. Who do you think the council turns to to win a battle," he said raising an eyebrow.

"They turn to Master Kenobi not you! You're ego is severally inflated!" Baxter told him.

Anakin laughed. "Yeah, I always end up saving Master's butt!" he told him.

"You're not getting out of this Chosen One! You owe me!" Baxter told him.

Anakin folded his arms across his chest. "So how are we going to settle this, a game of sabacc? Chess?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Fuck no!" Baxter said a regretted it when Minga threw something at him. He ducked just in time and whatever it was she threw at him hit the wall behind him. "Awe Minga that wasn't nice!" he called.

"Language Padawan!" Minga told him nodding in Shmi direction. She then leaned in closer to Shmi. "This should get interesting. Anakin and Baxter Ling are known as the terrible two in the temple. I find them more entertaining than annoying," she told him.

"Well Bax, which one is it?" Anakin asked.

"I'm not playing no game with you Anakin, you outsmart everyone! There is no one stupid enough to challenge you in either game," Baxter told him.

Anakin grinned. "Yeah, I really can't help that. But it _is_ useful," he said and remembered how Han had always challenged him to a game of sabacc determined to win. He wondered if that would ever happen again. Be brought his mind back to the present. "Well if not sabacc or chess then what?" he said casually.

Suddenly Baxter pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it pressing his green blade close to Anakin's throat.

Shmi grew alarmed at this but relaxed a tiny bit when no one flinched.

"I challenge you to a duel Skywalker," Baxter said.

"You know that you can't win with that either. I'm on Master level with lightsaber combat you're still a padawan," Anakin said calmly.

Baxter raised an eyebrow. "I'm full of surprises," he said challengingly.

Anakin grinned and pulled out his lightsaber and was about to ignite it when Minga spoke up. "You two are _NOT_ dueling in here!" she snapped.

"Then why don't you close shop for a few and keep score for us? We're going to need a ref. You know how Skywalker fights dirty," Baxter suggested.

"No less dirty than you Ling," Anakin told him.

"So I challenge you then?" Baxter said grinning.

"Not really. You forget, I fight the sith," Anakin said dryly.

"I'm still not convinced that _you're_ the chosen one," Baxter said.

Minga rolled her eyes. "I thought this was going to be a duel with lightsabers not insults," she said snorting.

"Which training room?" Anakin asked.

"The jungle," Baxter said grinning.

Anakin grinned. "Fun," he said.

Baxter deactivated his lightsaber. "So how bout it Minga?" he asked.

"What the hell," she said and then grinned at Anakin. "Perhaps you can show off to Mother Ani," she said.

"Don't call me that," Anakin told her. "It's General Skywalker," he said straitening his robes.

Minga ruffled his hair. "Awe but you'll always be little Ani," she mocked.

Anakin shoved her away. "Quite! I just had it feathered!" he said.

"You're kidding!" Baxter said jaw dropping. "You actually do that shit?"

"I'm the jedi's poster boy, I have to keep up with appearances. Hero's have to look their best at all times," Anakin said seriously.

"Dude, you're sounding like one of the flops!" Baxter said.

Anakin grinned.

"Dude! I'm going to get you for that!" Baxter snapped.

Anakin laughed. "I had you going didn't I?" he laughed.

"That's the thing, I never know when you're being serious or if you mocking me," Baxter told him.

Anakin rubbed his hands together and laughed evilly. "So my plan is working, hehehehehe," he said in a sinister tone.

Minga rolled her eyes and looked over at Shmi. "Every time these two get together their maturity levels drop fifty percent!" she said.

Shmi only smiled and she looked at Anakin seeing for the first time how carefree he was. Perhaps sending him to become a jedi was the right thing to do. She often doubted herself for her decision. But seeing this side of him, she knew. She did exactly what was best for her son.

"Thank you Padawan Ling for turning my favorite helper into a puddle of immaturity," Minga said dryly.

Baxter saluted her. "Anything for you luv!" he said cheerily.

"Don't call me 'luv'!"

Shmi couldn't help herself. She laughed. When everyone looked her her hands flew up to cover her smiling mouth. "I'm sorry!" she said.

Anakin looked at her bewildered. He had never seen his mother like this. He had never seen her giddy. It was a strange sight to him. Something he wasn't prepared for. He turned his gaze away from her and back to Baxter. "So are we going to duel or are we going to psych each other out with dry wit?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Race you to the jungle?" Baxter said raising an eyebrow in challenge.

"No! You're not running through the temple!" Minga snapped.

Anakin and Baxter grinned at each other and then at Minga before they dashed out of the medical bay at top speed.

"What did I say? Terrible two!" Minga snapped and shook her head. "We better make sure that they don't get into any more trouble," she groaned. "Master Windu _is NOT_ going to like this!"

"It can't be that bad," Shmi said. "Ani isn't that bad," she told her.

Minga pinched the bridge of her nose and tilted her head back as she closed her eyes. "You have no idea how bad those two can get. The two of them separate was enough to keep the council on their toes, but then they decided to combine their efforts to wreak havoc on the temple. They're called the terrible two for a reason. I've hoped that they would out grow it, but alas, it's not to be!" she told her.

"You said it would be interesting," Shmi reminded her.

Minga nodded. "Well. With Anakin, there never is a dull moment but put him with Baxter Ling and well... you'll see. Look I know a short cut, we could catch up to them," she said.

"I think that I'd like to see this mock duel. I've seen Ani in action..." Shmi trailed off.

"Anakin is the best of the best. But that's because he's a perfectionist. He takes being a jedi very seriously, but he also enjoys it. He's restless without a battle to fight," Minga explained as she instructed the droids to take over for her. "Anakin prefers active duty over doing research or just waiting for the enemy to strike. He's a quick learner and follows his instinct every time he's in a duel, which has ranked him just below Master Windu in combat and Master Windu _IS_ the best. No one can beat him. But Anakin is determined to best him if Master Windu would give him enough chances. Anakin once voiced his admiration of Master Windu and wanted Master Windu to train him in lightsaber combat but he never asked him to train him due to his feeling that Master Windu disapproved of him. Now neither of them trust the other," Minga explained as she and Shmi walked through the temple to what the boys referred as the jungle.

"What happened for them not to trust each other?" Shmi asked.

Minga looked at her. "You have to understand this. Jedi are trained from infancy. When Anakin was brought to the temple by Qui-Gon Jinn, he was deemed too old to be trained. Master Windu is a stickler for tradition and follows the code strictly. He is stern, but he does care about the order. There are some who believed that for Anakin to be trained, it would be too dangerous. Master Windu was one of them. Anakin figured this out for himself within one year of being here and he had tried to tread carefully around Master Windu. He wanted to prove himself to him. But after a while he gave up. Now Anakin feels as though Master Windu is waiting for him to screw up. I'm not so certain on that, but I do know that Master Windu watches Anakin closely," Minga told her.

Shmi remained silent as she thought about this. What could be so dangerous about a little boy who had always helped others in spite of his station as a slave?

Minga took her silence as key to continue. "Being a jedi is everything for Anakin. It's who he is. He is every bit jedi." They took a turn and entered a lift alone. Minga pressed the doors closed and pressed a button for the fourth floor. "Anakin feels torn because of his dedication to the order and his love for Padme. He wants both, he needs both and keeping up with having two different lives is tearing him apart," she said.

"I don't understand the secrecy. What is so shameful of being in love?" Shmi asked.

"Attachments are forbidden for a jedi. And when I say attachments I mean emotional attachments. For a jedi it could be dangerous. There are circumstances with emotional attachments that can bring a jedi to the dark side, to become a sith. Anakin has already had a brush with the dark side and I'm helping him through it." She met Shmi eyes. "When you died, he lost it. He still lives with the guilt of what he had done to the tuskans. Unfortunately that darkness will always be a part of him. I, well Padme, Obi-Wan and I, we worry about him. There are times when he seems okay but then there are times when you know he's not dealing with things all that well. If it weren't for the three of us, Anakin would always be teetering towards the dark side. We have to get him to talk. Master Yoda has been training him how to harness the darkness, how to find peace of mind. He's made a lot of progress within the last six months. Anakin is slowly coming back to us." she grinned. "We'll have a front row seat to seeing the real Anakin Skywalker. As long as Baxter Ling is around, we'll see the real Anakin alright. Just wait till you see the show!" she beamed. "You'll love it!"

Shmi smiled faintly. She hated to hear of Anakin's suffering. He was suffering because of her. And she hated it. He couldn't look at her without seeing his own weaknesses. She hated it. She was a constant reminder of her son's pain. She hated it. But she would not show it. She was stronger than that. She would put on a cheery face. She would make things better. She had to. She had to fix Anakin. It was her job. She had to fix her son. She didn't want him to be broken. She had to make him better.

"Ah were here!" Minga said as the lift came to a stop and they stepped off of it. Minga took Shmi's hand and dragged her down a long hall and into a room which Shmi could only describe as a jungle. It certainly looked like a jungle. Or those that were described in the books she had read. The room was large with several trees in it with multiple branches and vines making up the ceiling. The floor was thick with grass and bush. It was a marvelous sight.

"Anakin what are you doing?!" Minga snapped.

Shmi turned her gaze away from the jungle to where Minga was looking to see Anakin fiddling with some sort of electrical box. He snapped his hand back as he was zapped.

"E Chu Ta!"

"Anakin!" Shmi scolded.

"Sorry Mom," Anakin automatically replied.

"Stop kissing ass Skywalker and get the system up to our standards!" Baxter called as he swung on a vine.

"Stop complaining I almost have it!" Anakin called and snapped his hand back again when he got zapped again. "You have got to be kidding me!" he called.

"Lost your touch Skywalker?" Baxter called.

Minga smiled smugly. "It seems as though someone didn't like you tampering with the simulations," she sing songed.

"That was a lot time ago, I'm sure they're forgotten about that by now," Anakin said dismissively.

"What did you do?" Shmi asked.

Anakin grinned sheepishly. "I upped the simulations to an exceedingly high level and forgot t set it back to normal, the other jedi weren't quite up for the challenge," he told her. He got an idea and pulled off his black glove.

"Anakin don't! You'll short circuit your arm again!" Minga snapped.

Anakin froze. "Oh yeah, that was an unpleasant experience," he remembered. He then tapped a mechanical finger to his chin in thought. Then another idea struck him. "I need Artoo!"

"Where is your faithful droid friend?" Minga asked.

"I left him home," Anakin remembered with a frown.

Minga raised an eyebrow. "Wow, what a surprise. You and Artoo are inseparable. Honestly Anakin you treat that droid as if he was your own child," she said.

"Hey! Artoo helped me out of some serious scrapes! He has feelings you know," Anakin defended.

"You do realize that droids are not pets and they are incapable of feelings, right?" Minga said slowly and skeptically.

"Artoo's different! No jokes about Artoo!" Anakin snapped.

Minga rolled her eyes. "He's a droid," she said slowly.

"He's my droid, I've spent a lot of time on Artoo, Artoo is perfect," Anakin said flatly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you like to add personality to droids as if they were pets and could have feelings," Minga said sarcastically.

"I've got it! Ha! They should know better than to try to keep me out!" Anakin called instantly working on the simulation controls.

"Bout time!" Baxter called as the jungle came to life.

Anakin grinned and then bowed to Minga and Shmi. "Ladies take your seats and let the show begin," he said and rushed into the center of the jungle to join Baxter.

Minga laughed. "Don't disappoint us Ani! I have credits on you!" she called after him. She turned to Shmi as Anakin made a running leap into the trees. "I know the perfect seats," she said and dragged Shmi to the top row of the bleachers. "Oh I know Obi-Wan is going to want to see this!" she said and pulled out her comlink. "Oh Obi!" she called into the comlink.

"I know, I'm on my way," Obi-Wan answered.

"Anakin's and Baxter's race through the temple gave it away didn't it?" Minga asked.

"The younglings were commenting on it and we all know what that means. I'm not missing the show," Obi-Wan told her before cutting the signal off.

"If this is so grand of a show then how come no one else is coming?" Shmi asked.

"They will. This is jedi entertainment," Minga told her.

Shmi looked out into the jungle but couldn't see Anakin or Baxter anywhere. What was a show where she couldn't see what was happening? Then she heard the sudden woosh and hum of a lightsaber. Before she could figure out where it was coming from two different blades started dancing with the other in the threes. One blade was green and the other was blue. In a blur Baxter swung out of a vine closely followed by Anakin with an amazing flip on a nearby vine. They swung at each other on the vine and continued to clash their lightsabers together. That is until Baxter managed to kick Anakin off of his vine. Anakin flipped in their air and kicked off of a tree landing crouched in the bushes unseen. Baxter swung back and forth on his vine looking for Anakin's hiding spot.

"What I miss?" Obi-Wan asked panting as he sat down next to Minga.

"Oh they just started. Anakin's going to ambush Baxter any minute," Minga told him.

Finally Baxter grinned and flipped down to the ground ready to strike but Anakin jumped out of his hiding spot catching Baxter's blade with his own as he flipped over him. The two continued their duel on the floor dancing around each other and striking each other so fast that their lightsabers became blurs of light.

Shmi was amazed at the show. There was an art to this that she could appreciate. She knew that it had to have taken great discipline to be able to do those things. Anakin was truly gifted. She smiled. This was Anakin's natural habitat.

"Amazing isn't it?" Minga said to her. "Anakin truly is the best at this. It should be made a master soon. He is far more advanced than his peers," she added.

"What are the different levels of jedi?" Shmi asked.

Obi-Wan leaned closer to her. "There are crèchelings which are the babies. Then there are the younglings who learn the basics. Then once you have been chosen, you become padawan to a jedi teacher whom you respectfully call Master because he or she is a master of the arts. When you finish your apprenticeship, you are knighted and become a knight. Then if you choose, you take on a padawan. The highest rank is that of Master. The highest rank for master are the rank where you are a member of the high council," he explained.

"And Anakin..." Shmi asked.

"Anakin was knighted six months ago," Obi-Wan told her. "Due to his position in the army, he is the highest ranking knight in the order," he added. "It is quite an achievement since Anakin is only twenty one. I wasn't knighted until I was twenty five," he said finally.

Shmi swelled with pride upon hearing this. Quite an achievement. She had always known that he was meant for greatness. Anakin had proven her right. She turned her attention back to the duel.

Anakin and Baxter were still dancing around each other on the ground. Baxter made a sudden sideways leap kicking off against the tress and managed to disarm Anakin and send a good kick in Anakin's side sending him flying against a tree. Shmi sucked in a hard breath as Anakin hit the side of a tree pretty hard side ways. She clutched her hands tightly together as Anakin remained motionless twisted halfway on his stomach and side. She wanted to stand up and throw herself in front of Anakin as Baxter made a running leap off of a tree trunk with his lightsaber held over his head ready to strike.

Shmi felt someone hold her hand. "Relax, Anakin knows what he's doing," Obi-Wan told her.

Shmi's eyes widened as an invisible force field threw Baxter hard against a tree hitting his back pretty hard. How could this be graceful?! They were getting hurt! But both jedi leaped into action coming at each other with their lightsabers. There was fury now in their dance as it picked up speed. Her eyes widened as the sound of blaster fire filled the room followed by actual blaster fire.

"This is getting violent!" Shmi yelled.

"They programed it so that it seems as though they're fighting in the midst of battle in this war. The council tried to have the high simulations on lock down. I told them that they were being too arrogant in thinking that Anakin wouldn't override it," Obi-Wan told her shaking his head. He sighed. "I have half a mind to let Anakin forget to set it back this time just to prove a point," he said.

Shmi watched as Anakin twisted and kicked Baxter in the face sending the poor padawan sailing backwards. Baxter got up and came at Anakin again sending Anakin a rather nasty kick in the lower regions. Anakin dropped his lightsaber and doubled over. Shmi could see him shouting something and knew that it was hutt profanities. Baxter stood over him pressing a hand to his nose and also giving Anakin a good telling off. Suddenly Anakin leaped up and tackled Baxter to the ground and the two jedi forgot about lightsabers and began hitting and punching each other.

"Oh dear, not again!" Minga groaned.

"We knew that this would get out of hand. I swear they act like rivaling brothers instead of jedi," Obi-Wan said standing up. "Time to break them up," he said straightening his robes.

"Need any help?" Minga asked.

"Nah, I can handle this one," Obi-Wan said marching down the bleachers.

Minga shook her head and rubbed her hands on her thighs. "Well, we did get a show. Too bad they resorted to fighting rather than finishing the duel. But lets look on the bright side, they'll be continuing this tomorrow, one of them has to win," she said.

"Do they always act like that?" Shmi asked.

"We'll you'll have plenty of opportunities to see that for yourself then," she said cheerfully.

Shmi only nodded. She had plenty of opportunities to see what Anakin's life was really like.


	41. I'm Sorry

A/N: I know that some of you are upset over the strained relationship between Anakin and Shmi. Well from this chapter on things are gonna get a lot better!

Hope you like this chapter.

Charlie.

* * *

Shmi forced Anakin to keep the bacta poultice over his swollen eye and swollen mouth. Anakin backed away from her and the bacta. "You're smothering me!" he snapped.

"You wouldn't have to have this covering your face if you weren't fighting," Shmi told him flatly.

Anakin pointed at Baxter. "He started it!" he claimed.

Shmi swatted him hard in the head.

"_OWE_!" he yelled rubbing his head.

Shmi glared at him. "How many times do I have to tell you that fighting doesn't solve anything?!" she snapped and swatted his head gain.

"_OWE_! _OWE_! I'm sorry! I won't do it again I swear!" Anakin cried feeling like he was a child again.

"That's what you always say!" Shmi snapped planting her fists on her hips.

"Sorry Mom," Anakin mumbled.

Baxter snickered. "I never thought I'd see the day when Skywalker would be put on a leash!" he chortled.

"Shut up!" Anakin snapped lunging at his friend.

Shmi slapped Anakin in the face that time. Anakin placed a hand over the now red check and looked at his mother with wide eyes. Shmi's hands flew to her mouth as she realized that she had done something she swore never to do to her son. "Oh Ani, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I would never!" she cried. She reached out a shaky hand to him but he stood up and backed away from her.

"But you did it. You can't take that back," he told her.

"I don't know what has gotten into me! I'm sorry Ani! I'm sorry..."

"Don't call me that!" Anakin snapped. "Don't call me that," he repeated.

"Anakin..." Minga began unsure of what to do or say.

Baxter looked at Anakin funny. "You okay Anakin?" he asked at the startled look on his friends face.

"I need to get out of here," Anakin said grabbing his cloak and leaving.

"Anakin!" Shmi called after him but Anakin didn't answer.

Minga watched Shmi closely. "Make sure he's okay," she said to Baxter.

"You don't need to tell me twice," Baxter said following his friend.

Once he was gone Minga placed her hands on Shmi's trembling shoulders. "Here sit down," she urged.

"How could I have done that to him?!" Shmi cried.

"He was misbehaving, it's a natural reaction for a mother to have," Minga told her soothingly.

Shmi looked at her aghast. "No! I swore that I would never hit him! I wouldn't hit him! He was hit too much over the smallest things! I would never do that to him!" she snapped.

Minga didn't show how worried she was. "How often was he hit?" she asked.

"They beat him all the time! If he tripped and knocked something over they would beat him. And if he cried they would beat him harder. I swore to him that I would never hit him! He'll never forgive me now," Shmi cried.

"You don't need his forgiveness. You did nothing wrong," Minga told her.

Shmi shook her head. "I died! I hurt him in the worst possible way and now I hit him!" she cried.

Minga now understood. "Shmi. You did nothing wrong. Yes, your death had hurt Anakin profoundly, but it's not you who should feel guilty for it. Neither should Anakin, but he does blame himself. He hasn't forgiven _himself_ for your death," Minga told her. She sighed. "Anakin knew you were suffering. He saw visions of it in his sleep. He told himself for months that it was just a dream. He focused on his training because he knew that was what you wanted him to be doing. He was honoring your wishes. But the visions would not go away. While he was on his first solo assignment, he veered away from his mission because he couldn't take the visions. He flew from Naboo to Tatooine searching for you to reassure himself that you were okay. Only he arrived too late. By the time he had gotten to you, it was too late. You died within minutes after he found you. He knew that he could have saved you. He lives with it every day. He has yet to forgive _himself_," Minga explained. She looked down sadly. "He was angry at himself for failing you. He didn't have time to properly mourn because as soon as you were buried he was called to Geonosis to help Obi-Wan who was on his own assignment which tied into Anakin's when Obi-Wan was ambushed. Anakin and Padme rushed to Geonosis right away to rescue Obi-Wan, only the three of them were sentenced for execution. That was the start of the clone wars. Many jedi died all at the hands of Count Dooku. Anakin sensed it as another failure and grew even more angry at himself. Anakin made a huge mistake that day, a mistake he paid for. He's lucky that all he lost was his arm. He should not have been fighting then. Not in the state of mind he was in. He's paying for that day and there's hardly any of us could do," she finished.

Shmi barely took all that information in. All she could focus on was when she hit Anakin. The look on his face. She covered her mouth with her hands. How could she do that to her child? She knew what that simple act was doing to him. She was a terrible mother. She knew it. "I'm a terrible mother," she cried.

"No!" Minga snapped. "You're not a terrible mother! Anakin loves you! He adores you! All you did was slap him. He's been slapped before and he deserved to be slapped this time! Because believe it or not, sometimes it takes a good slap to make him see reason. You didn't hit him. One slap is nothing like Gardulla did to him! What Gardulla did was unspeakable! Do not compare yourself to her!"

Shmi shook her head. "I still hit him!" she said.

"Smacking your child is not a crime! It's not the same as abuse!" Minga told her. She frowned. "Anakin reacted the wrong way. _He_ is the one in the wrong _not_ you!"

Shmi shook her head. "This isn't me! I don't care what the circumstances are, I have never hit Anakin before! I don't know what's going on with me. I feel like there is something wrong," she said. "Anakin senses it too, I know it."

Minga didn't know what else to say after that. She looked over at the doors where Anakin had disappeared. "There is a stronger force at play here than any of us know. But Anakin does. It's like he almost knows what exactly is going to happen. He's trying to hide it, but he's acting as if he's on a time clock. Whatever it is, it's strong enough to change the galaxy and...Anakin as well," she said and then turned back to Shmi. "look we're not going to accomplish anything by berating ourselves over something small. We need to start focusing on helping Anakin succeed in whatever he's planning," she said.

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"Hey Skywalker!" Baxter shouted following Anakin.

"leave me alone Bax!" Anakin snapped as he continued to stalk away.

Baxter ran up to him, grabbed him by the arm and shoved him against a wall. "What _is_ your problem?!" he demanded.

Anakin shoved him away. "It's not o your business!" he snapped.

"None of my business?! Look it's got you rattled up, your my best friend so that _makes_ it my business!" Baxter told him. "Look I don't know what has gotten into you, but I don't like it okay." he leaned in closer. "You need to start showing your mother some respect! Your a jedi for force sake, start acting like it!" he said giving Anakin another shove.

"Don't start lecturing me Baxter, I'm dealing the situation the best that I can!" Anakin told him.

Baxter crossed his arms. "I think you can do better. No. I know you can do better," he sighed. "Look man, this isn't you. You're acting irrational! Something is going on with you and as your friend I demand to know what it is!" he snapped. When Anakin gave no response other than to peer down over a railing onto a lower level, his hands gripping the railing pretty hard. Baxter mimicked his pose. "It's this sith lord isn't it? He's messing with your head isn't he?" he asked remembering something that Anakin told him.

"Sidious is the one who had my mother brought back from the dead. I can feel it. But for what purpose?!" Anakin said and used his right hand to punch the pillar next to him.

"He's trying to get to you man, don't give that slime the satisfaction. Look whatever the purpose is, you have your mother with you now. Make the best of it. At least you know where she is and that she loves you. Remember mine left me on the temple doorstep, no one knows who she was. Hell I don't even know where I come from like everyone else does. Besides, if you start snapping now you'll be giving the sith exactly what he wants, we can't have that now cane we?" Baxter said giving Anakin a grin for the last part.

"Since when were you mature?" Anakin asked without looking up.

"Believe it or not Skywalker, we're adults, it's time we started acting right," he said and then threw Anakin another grin. "Of course, that doesn't mean we have to stop having fun," he added nudging Anakin's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for kicking you in the face," Anakin said.

"And I'm sorry for kicking you in a sensitive spot. Being a man I can understand why you tackled me," Baxter said.

Anakin grinned. "I've been acting like an ass lately," he said shaking his head.

Baxter grinned. "So be a man and grovel for forgiveness," he told him. "I'm just sorry it took you getting kicked in the crotch to make you see reason," he couldn't help adding.

Anakin snorted. "I'll be sure to return the favor," he told him.

"I anticipate it," Baxter said grinning. "I guess it's time for you to face the music," he said looking in the direction that they had come from. He sighed when Anakin made no reply but kept looking down. "How often did you get beat into submission as a slave?" he asked.

"Gardulla never needed an excuse to _discipline_ me. If she didn't like the way I walked or how I breathed well... It's in the past. Gardulla is dead now, she already got what was coming to her. I refuse to think about that life," Anakin told him. "Watto wasn't that bad, he was tough but not like most slave owners. He was considered good in whatever way a slave owner could be. He never hit me or my mother," he added.

"Slavery, someone needs to do something about that and the hutts are the worst of the lot," Baxter said bitterly.

"I thought that once I became a jedi that I could free all the slaves. It was a rude awakening when I realized that I was powerless to stop slavery," Anakin told him.

"Some day Anakin. Someday. There is always hope," Baxter said placing a hand on his friends shoulder.

Anakin smiled. "Stop getting all sentimental, you're beginning to scare me," he told him.

"I think that I might be starting to scare myself actually," Baxter said.

Anakin laughed. "Who ever thought that the terrible two would actually grow up?" he said.

"Dude, keep it quiet, we've got reputations to maintain!" Baxter said and threw an arm around Anakin's shoulder. "You ready to face the women who raised you?" he asked.

Anakin smiled. "As ready as I'll ever be," he said.

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"What do you mean Anakin stormed out of here?!" Obi-Wan demanded.

"Exactly that Obi-Wan," Minga said taking a quick glance at Shmi who sat waiting for Anakin to return. "This game that Anakin is playing with Sidious needs to end now! In Anakin's mental state right now, he does not need to feel pressured!"

"What do you want me to do about it?! You know how Anakin is, he's determined to see this through and he's doing it sooner than we think. I don't think he's ready, but I know that he's going to follow through with it anyway! You're his psychiatrist! You order him to take a break! Tell him that if he continues to stress himself out like this, he will loose control and Vader will make an appearance!" Obi-Wan hissed.

"You think I haven't thought about that! Anakin needs a break! He needs some time to collect his thoughts. Tell the council to order him to take a leave from active duty! Then we can figure out a way to confine him to his apartment!" Minga told him.

Obi-Wan snorted. "Good luck! Anakin's powers surpasses Master Yoda's," he told her.

"I beginning to think the whole role of the chosen one is a curse," Minga muttered bitterly.

"I know. Anakin can't stand it, I can tell you that now," Obi-Wan hissed.

Their conversation was interrupted when Shmi stood up suddenly. "Anakin!" she cried throwing her arms around her son as soon as Anakin and Baxter walked into the room.

Both Minga and Obi-Wan watched as Anakin hugged his mother. "I owe you an apology Mom. I've been acting like a complete ass lately. I've just been so frustrated with everything that is going on lately and I've been taking it out on you, I'm sorry," Anakin whispered.

Shmi looked up at him. "I shouldn't have hit you," she told him.

"I deserved it," Anakin told her and then grinned. "I've actually had worse than a slap to the face. Much worse. I can handle one slap. Ask Minga I have a high tolerance for pain," he told her.

Shmi pushed away from him. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she demanded.

Anakin ran a hand through his hair. "Not working huh?" he said. "Okay I'm kinda new at this jedi with a mom thing," he added with a grin.

"Hey Mis ah, I'm not sure what to call you," Baxter said.

Anakin rolled his eyes.

"Just call me Shmi, it's easer," Shmi told him.

Baxter raised an eyebrow. "That isn't really proper," he said.

Anakin snorted. "You proper? Then I must be a sith lord in disguise," he said sarcastically.

Obi-Wan shared a look with Minga, both were thinking that Anakin was _not_ being funny.

"You're right how could either one of us be proper. We're the terrible two, we're not expected to be proper," Baxter grinned.

Anakin smirked. "What would I do without you to lighten the mood?" he asked.

"You would become a dried up, serious, by the book jedi leading a very boring life with no adventure in it," Baxter said.

Both Baxter and Anakin grinned at each other "_Adventure. Heh! Excitement. Heh! A Jedi craves not these things!_" They said in unison.

"Mocking Master Yoda will not get you two very far," Obi-Wan told them.

"Master Kenobi, we aren't making fun of Grand Master Yoda we were just repeating one of his favorite phrases," Baxter said.

"Nevertheless Padawan Ling, there is much truth to what he says. It would be wise to trust his judgment," Obi-Wan said.

"Yes Master Kenobi," Baxter said solemnly.

"Anyway..." Anakin said trailing off.

"We need to continue patching you two immature boys up," Minga said frowning. "Honestly the two of you drop maturity levels when you get together," she told them.

"Anakin, you cannot behave like a fourteen year old anymore. You have a very high position in this war. You are Supreme Commander and General of the Republican Army and a jedi knight," Obi-Wan reminded him.

"Yes, yes, I know Master. You don't need to remind me," Anakin said and then hissed as the bacta poultice stung his swollen and cracked lip.

"Remember Anakin we have training tomorrow for the army," Obi-Wan said.

"Move that to later in the day," Anakin told him.

"Hey, maybe I can help out with the training," Baxter suggested.

"Your master has your trials set for tomorrow Padawan Ling," Obi-Wan reminded him.

"Sithspit! That's right!" Baxter exclaimed. "Ouch woman!" he hissed when Minga pressed bacta poultice harder against his broken nose.

"Sorry Baxter, but you'll need to sleep with this bacta poultice over your nose if you want it to heal," Minga told him.

Obi-Wan leaned in closer to Anakin and whispered, "You better find a suitable excuse for your appearance for Padme."

Anakin groaned. Padme was not going to be pleased. But who said that he had to tell her that he got into a juvenile fight with one of his best friends?

"What are you going to say to your master about the fight?" Minga asked Baxter.

Now it was Baxter's turn to groan. "I have to tell him the truth..." he said.

Anakin smirked at him. "I hate to be you," he said.

"You know we wouldn't have fought if you didn't kick me in the face and broke my nose," Baxter pointed out.

"Correction, if _you_ didn't kick _me_ we wouldn't have fought," Anakin told him.

"I kicked you _because_ you kicked me!"

"Enough!" Shmi yelled making everyone look at her. "I've heard and seen enough fighting. From now on we're going to be civil," she said.

"Yes Mom."

"Yes Ma'am."

Minga and Obi-Wan looked at each other.

"This is new," Obi-Wan said, "the terrible two actually being compliant."

"Shmi I think we want you to stick around some more. Only Master Yoda has been able to do what you just did," Minga said. "Terrible two indeed, all the terrible two needed was a mother," she muttered.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"What happened to you?" Padme shrieked upon seeing Anakin holding a bacta poultice over his face. She was on him in an instant pulling the bacta poultice away from her husbands face.

Anakin thanked the force that the swelling from his eye and mouth had gone down. "It was nothing, I just got a little carried away during a sparring match that's all," he told her. he sat down on the couch and leaned his head back before replacing the bacta poultice to his face.

Padme turned to Shmi. "Were you there?" she asked.

"I saw the whole thing," Shmi told her. "Getting carried away is putting it loosely," she added looking pointedly at Anakin making him wince.

Padme turned her attention back to Anakin and he knew without seeing her that she had her arms crossed and was giving him the look. "You got into a fight didn't you?" she demanded.

"No."

"Don't lie to me Anakin!" Padme snapped. "You need to control you temper! You shouldn't be taking temper tantrums..."

"I got carried away during a duel that's all! I did _not_ have a temper tantrum! And I _have_ controlled my temper!" Anakin snapped. Before anyone could say anything he decided the have the subject changed. "Threepio!" he called.

Threepio's shuffling feet could be heard before he shuffled into the room. "Yes Master Ani?" Threepio said cocking his upper body to the side and backwards slightly.

"I don't feel like cooking tonight, place a food order for some random cuisine," Anakin ordered.

"Is there anything particular you would like sir?" Threepio asked.

"Surprise me," Anakin said waving his free hand.

Threepio turned to Padme and Shmi. "Anything particular you would like Milady? Mistress Shmi?" Threepio asked.

"No thank you Threepio," Padme said waving her hand.

"I'll just have whatever Padme's having," Shmi told Threepio kindly.

Threepio bowed and left the room to make the appropriate order.

"You know something I just thought of," Anakin said taking the bacta poultice off of his face and looked over at Padme.

"What is it?" Padme asked.

"This is the first time that I've been home on our anniversary and I just now remembered it," Anakin said.

Padme got startled look on her face. "I haven't thought about it either," she said. She then shoved his shoulder. "And you mucked things up by getting into a fight!" she said.

"It wasn't a fight!" Anakin defended himself.

Shmi was about to say something when Threepio reentered the room.

"I have made the appropriate order. The food should be here shortly," Threepio said.

"Thank you Threepio," Anakin said leaning his head back and replacing the bacta poultice on his face.

"How long do you have to keep this on your face?" Padme asked touching the bacta poultice.

"I don't know, how does it look?" Anakin replied taking the bacta poultice off of his face.

"It looks a lot better than it did. The swelling has gone down completely and your eye only looks red not purple like it did," Shmi told him.

"Good," Anakin said throwing the bacta poultice down. "I'm just going to get freshened up while we wait for dinner," he said standing up and leaving the room.

Padme watched him go before turning to Shmi. "What really happened?" she asked.

"A friend of his challenged him to a duel and it got out of hand," Shmi told her.

"Let me guess, Ani lost the duel and his friend refused a rematch so he got upset," Padme guessed.

Shmi shook her head. "They never finished the duel," she said and proceeded to tell her what had happened.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You know I bet you were hurt pretty badly today," Padme said as Anakin climbed into bed beside her.

"I've had worse," Anakin told her with a smile.

Padme set her datapad aside and smirked at him. "Are you sure that you're completely healed?" she asked.

"Yes Padme," Anakin said. "I wasn't hurt that bad," he told her rolling his eyes.

"Good, then I guess you're up for some fun," she said turning to face him.

"What kind of fun?" Anakin asked but when she straddled him he got his answer. "Oh this kind of fun!" he said.

Padme placed a finger over his lips. "No talking," she told him before pulling her nightgown up over her head and tossed it on the floor.

Anakin grinned and pulled her closer to him before rolling over on top of her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_She found herself in a dark room again. She didn't know where she was. All she knew was that she shouldn't be here. She needed to get out of here. She felt like she was in danger. She groped around in the darkness, searching for a way out. _

"_What are you doing here?"_

_She turned around suddenly to see a hooded figure standing not that far from her. He walked over to her. _

"_You shouldn't be here, it isn't safe," he said._

"_I don't even know where here is," she said. _

_A couple of lights flickered and when the stopped only two stayed on lighting the small circle they stood in. She sighed with relief at the sight of Anakin's face under the dark hood. His blue eyes looked at her with worry and love. _

"_You need to get out of here fast," Anakin told her. _

"_I don't even know how I got here," she told him._

_A look of panic crossed his face before the lights flicked again. During the lights flickering she noticed how his expression changed into something sinister and how his eyes changed from blue to yellow. Finally all the lights came on and she stepped back. It wasn't Anakin standing there. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind. _

"_Lord Vader what should we do with her?" a voice said from behind her. _

_She struggled to get free but who ever was holding her held her tighter. What happened to Anakin? _

_Vader smirked. "Leave her fate to me," he said._

Shmi sat up in bed suddenly having finally woken herself up from her dream. She didn't know what to make of these dreams. But they were trying to tell her something.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shmi sat drinking her twelfth cup of caf when Padme came out fully dressed. She hadn't seen Anakin emerge yet. She wanted to talk to him about her dreams. "Is Ani still sleeping?" she asked.

Padme threw her cloak around her before answering. "He had decided to sleep in today for some reason. I didn't ask his reasons. But I think it's a nice change. He's been working hard lately, he needs some rest," Padme said.

Shmi nodded. She supposed that she would have to wait to talk to Anakin.

Padme gave her a bright smile. "I might be home a little later than usual, can you make sure to tell Anakin that for me" she requested.

"I'll tell him," Shmi told her.

"Milady the transport is waiting Capitan Typho said standing by the doors to the apartment.

"I'll be back," Padme said leaving the apartment with her security guard.

Once she was alone Shmi stood up with her now empty cup and gently set it down. She didn't want to wait for Anakin to wake up to sort out her dreams. But she didn't want to wake him either. She felt as though he may know what they were about, she was certain of it. She knew now that she was dreaming about this mysterious Vader. But if that was Vader why did he look so much like Anakin? What did Anakin have to do with Vader? Why was Anakin reluctant to tell her who Vader was? There was a connection, she knew it.

Somehow she ended up walking to her son's bedroom. The bedroom that she shared with his wife. It was still strange to think of her son all grown up let alone married. But he was. She stepped into the room and paused. Anakin was still sleeping. He was sleeping on his stomach with his left arm underneath his pillows and his right arm hanging off of the side of the bed. His face was turned towards the wall. He looked so still. So at peace. He seemed happy.

She didn't know how long she stood there watching him sleep. But she startled when he stirred. He didn't wake yet, he just twisted and shifted in bed now laying on his side facing the empty spot where she guessed Padme slept. His arm lay outstretched across the empty spot. Shmi quietly backed out of the room to wait for his to wake up.

Shmi was on her fifteenth cup of caf when Anakin finally emerged from his bedroom ruffling his hair. He walked past her and into the kitchen to get himself a cup of caf before he came back out to drink it on the balcony.

"Morning," he said politely.

"It's past morning," Shmi told him.

"Is it?" Anakin asked surprised.

"I had another dream last night," Shmi told him.

Anakin continued to watch the city from the balcony. "About what?" he asked

"Vader," Shmi said and she could see him stiffen. "Anakin. I don't know where these dreams are coming from, but it's like they're trying to tell me something. I think you know something and your not telling me. There's only one thing that I can think of for me to have these dreams," she said.

"And what would that be?" Anakin asked cautiously.

"You're Vader aren't you?" Shmi asked.


	42. I'm Pregnant

A/N: So yeah, things almost seem to be looking up in this chapter.

Hope you like this chapter.

Charlie.

* * *

Anakin dropped his cup of caf. The full cup of caf shattered at his bare feet spilling the caf all over the balcony floor and his feet.

"Ani!" Shmi called rushing forward ready to clean up the mess. "Ani are you alright?" she asked.

Anakin just looked at her frozen and growing paler by the minute. A million things flew through his head. But it was that one question that kept repeating itself to him.

"_You're Vader aren't you?"_

"_You're Vader aren't you?"_

"_You're Vader aren't you?"_

"**_You're Vader aren't you?"_**

"**_YOU'RE VADER AREN'T YOU?"_**

"**_YOU'RE VADER AREN'T YOU??????????"_**

"**_YOU'RE VADER AREN'T YOU??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"_**

"What...what did you just say?" he asked fearfully. _A jedi knows not fear. Fear leads to the dark side._ He knew that she deserved the truth. But he didn't want to tell her his darkest secret. How could he tell his mother that he was half evil? He couldn't do that.

Shmi looked at him and she knew that she had hit the nail on it's mark. He was hiding something. Something terrible. What did he do? What is so terrible that could make him react this way? "Ani? What is it? You're scaring me," She asked.

Anakin took her by the arm and lead her off of the balcony and to the sofas. "Has he been visiting you in your dreams? What did he do? What did he say?" he demanded almost frantically.

"Ani settle down, it is just dreams," Shmi told him but the expression on his face hasn't changed. "It's true isn't it? You really are Vader," she said moving away from him.

"Mom," Anakin said reaching out to her but she moved away. "I can explain, but first you must tell me about your dreams," he said urgently.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"I didn't do anything yet," Anakin told told her. "Tell me about these dreams," he urged.

"Tell me who Vader is to you! Why does he look like you?" Shmi demanded. "Anakin, whatever it is that has you scared, you can tell me," she said taking his hand.

Anakin took his hand out of hers. "Jedi have no fear. Fear leads to the dark side," he told her automatically.

"Don't give me that! Whoever Vader is, he scares you! Why won't you tell me who he is?" Shmi snapped.

"Because I am Vader!" Anakin told her and stood up suddenly. He turned away from her. "At least a part of me is him," he said.

Shmi stood up as well not expecting this to come from him. "Ani? Tell me," she said.

Anakin wouldn't look at her. He knew the time to tell her was now. But he didn't want to do it. He didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want her blaming herself. He didn't want to see how horrified she was. But he had to do it. He owed her the truth. "I don't suppose that you've heard of Dissociative Identity Disorder," he said.

"Ani, what is this about?" Shmi asked.

"It's a split personality disorder. It is brought on by witnessing a traumatic event," Anakin told her.

"What does this have to do with you or Vader?" Shmi asked.

"I've been diagnosed with it," Anakin told her emotionlessly. "Vader is the other personality. Vader is a sith lord. One slip up could bring Vader out. And if Vader comes out the galaxy will fall to darkness."

Shmi refused to believe what she was hearing. Who was it who was spewing these lies to her son? "I don't believe it," Shmi told him. "Why would you be diagnosed with this? What would cause it?!"

"Do you even know how you died?" Anakin asked.

"I don't remember dying," Shmi told him. "Anakin, you're not making any sense."

"You were kidnapped by a tribe of tusken raiders. You were gone a month by the time I arrived on Tatooine. You were brutally beaten to death over the course of a month. I... I couldn't take seeing you like that. You died within moments after I freed you. What they did to you, it was worse than anything Gardulla had done," Anakin told her.

Shmi didn't know what to say. What could she say. She didn't remember being kidnapped by tuskens. But she couldn't imagine the pain that Anakin went through. And he was still suffering. Suddenly everything made sense. His attitude towards her was beginning to make sense. He was afraid. Afraid of loosing her again. Afraid of the consequences. Afraid of himself. It broke her heart. Anakin was never afraid. Wordlessly she walked up to him. "Ani, look at me," she urged placing a hand on his arm. Gently she turned him around and placed her hands on his face forcing him to look at her. She looked up into his face and waited for him to make eye contact with her. "You're not going to loose me again. I promise. I'm never going to leave you," she told him. She then pulled him into a tight embrace.

He hesitated before returning the embrace holding onto her tightly burring his face into her shoulder. "I don't want to loose you Mom. I don't know what I would do if I lost you again," he said.

"Shh. It's alright. I'm here now," she told him stroking his hair and he tightened his hold on her and began to cry. Somehow she knew that he hadn't allowed himself to cry over her death.

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Siri struggled to conceal her pregnancy. But she found it to be beginning increasingly difficult. She changed her attire to resemble more of that of Shaak Ti's instead of her standard pants and tunic. She had asked to take a leave from active duty for the time being. She claimed that she still wanted to figure out who was trying to kill Anakin. She needed to sort through everything that had happened while she was on her mission. In truth she wanted to sort through what she was going to do now. She knew that she had to tell the council. She couldn't keep it hidden forever. But how could she tell them, especially if Obi-Wan was on the council? How could she look them in the eyes and confess her sin? Her weakness.

Siri walked into the medical bay for her check up with those thoughts in mind. She walked into Minga's office to find her in there pouring over something. "Minga?" Siri said interrupting Minga's work.

Minga looked up at her then. "Oh, I'm sorry Siri, I didn't notice you come in," she said.

"It's alright, I just got here," Siri told her.

Minga stood up and straightened her skirts. "Well lets get this examination over with," She said giving Siri a bright smile.

Siri didn't return the smile. She wanted this pregnancy over and done with. "The same room?" she asked.

Minga nodded. "The same one," she said and the two women left the office and walked into a back examining room. "Have you decided on what you're going to tell the council?" She asked.

"No. I know it's inevitable but I just can't bring myself to do it," Siri said.

"It's not the first time that a jedi got pregnant. Although it hasn't happened recently until now," Minga told her.

"Will you be there?" Siri asked.

"I'm here when you need me Siri," Minga told her holding her hand. "You'll have to come clean soon. "You only have five more months, this pregnancy is shorter than most due to the farther being a falleen."

"I know," Siri said.

"It's not just the council you're worried about," Minga said. "It's Obi-Wan isn't it?" she asked.

"I don't know how he'll react," Siri admitted. "I know we're not in any kind of relationship, but we've loved each other for years."

"Obi-Wan will understand," Minga told her. "He isn't one to hold grudges."

"I know. Believe me I know," Siri told her.

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"Milady, I insist that you allow me to come with you," Captain Typho said placing a hand on Padme's arm.

Padme looked at her guard with respect. "I must do this myself Captain. What harm could come of me in a doctors office?" she told him.

"Anything can happen Milady," Captain Typho told her.

Padme thought about it before grabbing Dorme's hand. "Dorme will come with me. If there is any sign of danger she will come get you," she said at last.

Captain Typho knew that this was as far as she would let up. He nodded. "Be on your guard," he told them standing back for the two women to enter the doctors office.

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"You're late Anakin," Obi-Wan said with his arms crossed as Anakin walked into the Republican Army's hanger bay.

"I was held up," Anakin told him walking past the long line of soldiers all standing in formation. He finally reached where Obi-Wan was standing. "What did I miss?" he asked quietly.

"We were waiting for you. You a greater expert that I with todays exorcise," Obi-Wan told him.

"Right. We're using the clone's ships right?" he asked making sure.

"We use everything that the clones use as you prefer," Obi-Wan reminded him.

"Good, it would give the clones no opportunity to sabotage anything even if they were ordered to," Anakin told him.

"You beginning to get paranoid," Obi-Wan told him.

"I'm not taking any chances," Anakin told him before facing the soldiers. "We've set up target practice above Coruscant. Use whatever stunts you choose. Do what ever it takes to take out the targets, but don't forget to work as a team!" Anakin ordered.

"Anakin surely you can give them more instruction than that," Obi-Wan said.

"These skills should be second instinct! During battle, you have no time to make guess work!" Anakin said marching up and down the line of soldiers. He grinned. "You were each hand selected from your home worlds to assist the Republic against it's greatest threat. Do your planet proud! And don't forget to run with whatever decision your conscience dictates to you. You will find that your conscience is you biggest ally in the heat of battle or anywhere else. Never forget that," Anakin told them. He paused. "I'm afraid that during war time, you will find even those who are on our side are ruled without consciences, it is their orders you should be weary of. War brings out the worst in people. A lot of time the line between good and evil blurs," He turned to look at each and every soldier. "But no matter what the jedi will always be the keepers of peace and justice. Even in the darkest hour of the war. We're on the same side."

The soldiers looked from one to another not exactly sure what the last part in Anakin speech was about. A million questions swam through their heads.

"Quite an inspirational speech Anakin I can tell that you've been hanging around the politicians too much," Obi-Wan said with a smile lightening the mood some.

"I only hang around the politicians so much because someone has to be poster boy and you're too afraid of politics, Obi-Wan," Anakin replied giving his friend a cheeky grin.

"Well! We have only so long to get this done, no time to start than now," Obi-Wan said.

"Everyone take a starship and follow us in the air!" Anakin ordered.

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Shmi found Master Yoda to be a little funny. She had never seen anyone quite as funny as The grand Master of the jedi. Anakin spoke so highly of Master Yoda. It was clear that Master Yoda was well respected. But to carry a conversation with him meant that you had to really listen to what he was saying. Shmi didn't know if he talked in riddles on purpose or if that was how his species talked. Nevertheless, she enjoyed his company today.

"I'm afraid that I'm not much of a hostess here," Shmi confessed.

"Why concern yourself so much for me? Hmmmm?" Master Yoda asked.

Shmi found herself smiling for the first time since her ordeal. "My son holds a great deal of respect for you. But it's not just Ani who respects you but the galaxy. Surely you can see why," she told him.

Master Yoda looked down for a moment. "If so much respect for me the galaxy has, then why at war are we?" he asked.

Shmi looked away. "I know almost nothing about this war. My son risks his life for it, he expects to die at the closing of this war yet I know nothing of which he is fighting for. What he is willing to die for," She told him.

"Knows where his destiny lies, young Skywalker does. Foreseen one outcome of this wars end he has. Fighting to stop a terrible fate from befalling the galaxy he is. Guiding him I am. Like what I foresee I do not," Master Yoda told her.

Shmi became worried then. "You mean he will fail?" she asked alarmed.

"Already changed the future Young Skywalker has. Like what he is planning I do not. Choose his own fate he will. A good heart Young Skywalker has. Do what he feels is best for the galaxy he will. Stop him I cannot. Only guide him I can," Master Yoda told her.

"You mean he's going to choose to die?" Shmi asked growing even more alarmed.

"I cannot say. Clouded the future is. Strong with the dark side Lord Sidious is," Master Yoda told her and then looked her in the eye. "But even stronger with the force Young Skywalker is. The only one Young Skywalker is that can stop Lord Sidious. Know this the sith does. In grave danger he is in as are you."

"I know nothing of the force. I know nothing of this life," Shmi told him.

"In time you will know," Master Yoda told her confidently.

Shmi turned away and looked on the holonet which was still on from while she watched it before Master Yoda had arrived. When the name Skywalker flashed across the screen she became interested. "Ani's on the holonet," she said turning the volume up.

"_This is Ashana Ken from Coruscant news! It has recently come to our attention that Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi have taken the new Republican Army up over Coruscant for a test drive. Coruscant News is up in space filming everything. Daat could you describe what we're watching?"_

"_Certainly Ashana! We've received a tip early this morning of something being set up over Coruscant so I've been here waiting with my crew to see what it is exactly that we should be watching. Imagine my surprise when two jedi starfighters and a very large swarm of Republican starships arrived at the sight. Master Kenobi's trademark red jedi starfighter was the second ship we spotted. The first starfighter seemed to be yellow. We can't say as of yet why Knight Skywalker decided to change his trademark starship from blue to yellow but it was quite obvious that the pilot of the sleek yellow starfighter is none other than the hero without fear. Who else could pilot so skillfully! _

_I'm getting off topic here. But it seems as though we'll be privy to Knight Skywalker's and Master Kenobi's secret training plans! I for one am not going to let the Republic miss the show!"_

The screen angled away from the aliens face to the clear view of the many starships flying about. The two yellow and red starfighters sticking out like a sore thumb. Suddenly the yellow starfighter veered sideways in a steep dive making Shmi nervous knowing that her son was piloting it. She watched wordlessly as Anakin's yellow starfighter seemed to spot the holoreporters and started racing towards them with a good amount of Republican starships following him.

"_Looks like Knight Skywalker spotted us and he isn't too happy! But don't fear, he's not going to scare us away! The Republic deserves to know how the new army is going. The Republic may feel confidant that the dynamic duo is seeing to our new army personally, but a great many of us feel that they're taking too long on Coruscant when we need them out on the front lines!"_

Suddenly Anakin started spinning in a spiral and began shooting at the reporters aiming at something out of the screen.

"_He's taking out our reception people! It's startling that he knows where exactly on our ship to hit without putting us in harm! At this rate we don't know how long exactly we'll last! We're loosing our ability to broadcast!"_

Suddenly the screen showing the training session went blank.

"_Daat! Can you here us? Daat?! Oh well, we've lost communications! Don't worry people, we may still have footage to show later! This is Ashana Ken of Holonet News!"_

Shmi turned the volume down low again and turned back to Master Yoda to see him shaking his head. "What is it?" she asked.

"Too reckless. Cause more trouble than it was worth he did. Too impulsive. Yes much too reckless and impulsive!" Master Yoda muttered.

"But doesn't Ani always end up winning a battle?" Shmi asked.

"Wins battles he does but not after causing trouble!" Master Yoda told her.

"Master Yoda, nobody can be perfect. We should be happy that he does win and he comes back to us in one piece," Shmi told him.

"Sense great wisdom in you I do," Master Yoda said, "a terrible blow it will be if lost you were again."

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"Anakin I don't think destroying the holonet broadcasting system was a great idea," Obi-Wan said once the training was over.

"They shouldn't have been there in the first place, luckily they have no footage to show," Anakin said sounding proud of himself.

"Fine do as you want, but don't come to me to help you fix your mess," Obi-Wan told him.

"Stop worrying Obi-Wan. Everything is going to turn out fine, trust me," Anakin told him as they rounded a corner in the temple.

"That's a hard thing to do Anakin and you know that," Obi-Wan told him.

"What's so difficult?" Anakin asked.

"Trusting you," Obi-Wan told him simply.

"So you don't trust me? I'm hurt. The amount of times that I've saved your life and you still don't trust me," Anakin said as they rounded another corner.

"Anakin I trust you with my life, but when it comes to you doing something reckless and stupid or irresponsible and impulsive, _then_ I don't trust you," Obi-Wan told him.

"Do you trust me to do the right thing?" Anakin asked.

"I know you'll do the right thing," Obi-Wan told him.

"Then trust me," Anakin told him as they reached the hanger. They both went inside and walked over to a red speeder that Obi-Wan always used and they got in.

"Anakin try not to pull anymore suicidal stunts?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Trust me Master," Anakin reminded him before taking off.

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They pulled up to the veranda to Padme's apartment and stepped out of the speeder and walked into the apartment. They walked up the steps and into the hall to get into the living room where they met Shmi and Master Yoda.

"Well that was an interesting training session," Obi-Wan said and looked pointedly at Anakin.

"Are we on that again?" Anakin asked sitting down on the couch with his arms spread along the back of it. He laid his head back and rolled his eyes. "Something had to be done. The training sessions are closed to the public but the holonet leaches start spewing suspicions if they don't get an inside peek. Idiots! They had it coming," he said.

Master Yoda had gotten up during his speech and walked over to Anakin and whacked him on the knees with his gimer stick.

"Owe! What was that for?" Anakin shouted rubbing his knees.

"Too reckless you are! Cause more trouble than realize you do!" Master Yoda snapped.

"Anakin you know that the press is going to get even more persistent now than ever. Crying things like 'what are they hiding?' 'what exactly is going on?' and some other outrageous things," Obi-Wan told him.

"That's because they're leaches, it doesn't matter what we do they'll find something to talk about," Anakin told them.

"Well I think that there are better ways to handle things than how you did. You do realize that it was live, right?" Shmi said speaking up.

"It looks like you'll have to hold a press conference Anakin," Obi-Wan told him.

"No. I am not doing that," Anakin said flatly. "I'd much rather not be all over the holonet," he said.

"You were all over the holonet today," Shmi told him. "Your stunt was on every news channel."

Anakin rubbed his face with his hands and groaned. "Lets just drop the subject okay," he said.

"Fine, but when the holonet reporters start trying to break down the doors to get an inside peak into the training sessions we reserve the right to tell you that we told you so," Obi-Wan said.

"Come, council session called it was," Master Yoda said to Obi-Wan.

"Yes Master," Obi-Wan said and turned to Shmi. "It was good to see you again Shmi," he said bowing.

Shmi smiled. "Master Yoda I enjoyed your company today," she said.

"Speak to you again I will Mrs. Skywalker," Master Yoda said giving her a short bow before hobbling away with Obi-Wan.

Once they were gone she turned to Anakin. "Master Yoda is a peculiar fellow. I enjoyed speaking to him," She said.

Anakin smirked. "He's also a stubborn old fellow. But lately I've seen changes in him, I'm sure the council has too," he said.

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Siri stood in the middle of the council chambers facing Master Yoda. She had finally mustered up enough courage to speak to them about her problem. She glanced at where Minga stood by the doors briefly. Minga had proven herself as a true friend through the whole thing. She took a deep breath and looked back at Master Yoda.

"Something you wish to tell us Knight Tachi?" Master Yoda asked.

"Siri, does this have anything to do with your last mission?" Master Windu asked.

Siri nodded. "It happened during that time Masters," she told them.

"Did you do something that you regret?" Shaak Ti asked.

"Yes, I deeply regret it," Siri told them.

"Then tell us, we will not judge you," Stass Allie said.

Siri took a deep breath. "Dirthmar was falleen, he exuded different levels of pheromones to get what he wanted out of females. As I worked to get information out of him he had decided that he wanted to seduce me. I had a role to play, I had no other option but to let him. I thought that if I let him have his way that he would speak more freely. I was wrong," she told them.

"And this weighs heavily on your conscience Knight Tachi?" Shaak Ti asked.

Siri looked down. She couldn't meet their eyes.

"To be a jedi does not require a vow of celibacy. If you thought that it would help your mission that was your choice," Master Windu said.

"There's more Masters," Siri said and forced herself to look at them. "I'm pregnant."

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Anakin promptly shut off the holonet and rested his head on the back of the couch. Too much talk about the army training session and he hated that his name was plastered all over it. Padme should be home by now. He had heard his mother when she told him that Padme was going to be late, but he ignored it. He wanted to see his wife. He hasn't seen her all day. Usually they saw each other in the morning and he had gotten accustomed to making her breakfast in the morning. Out of the corner of his eye he saw some of Padme's sculptures on display and used the force to lift them in the air and began to play with them making them dance and swirl around in the air.

"Anakin stop that! Put them back down!"

Anakin stood up and did what he was told before pulling his wife in his arms. "I was waiting for you to get home," he said giving her kiss. He then frowned. "Are you all right? You're trembling. What's going on?" he asked.

"It's just stress," Padme told him.

"That's not it. I sense more . . . what is it?" Anakin demanded.

"Nothing . . . nothing . . ." Padme said trying to brush it aside.

"You're frightened. Tell me what's going on!" Anakin demanded now getting upset. "Did someone try to hurt you?"

Padme shook her head. "No, nothing like that," she told him. "Something wonderful has happened," she told him playing with the ends of his hair. "Ani, I'm pregnant," she told him.

Anakin was stunned. He thought about everything that was going to happen after this. Their time schedule had just been put on fast forward. He had to get everything done quickly now before the twins were born. He didn't want Luke and Leia born during war time. He had to make life for the twins safe. He had to stop sidious before his children were born. But he wouldn't let Padme know about the things in his head not yet. He wouldn't let her worry. He smiled and pulled her closer to him and spun her around. "That's wonderful!" he called.

"Anakin, what are we going to do?" Padme asked once she was back on her feet. "I don't want to bring a baby into the galaxy during the war and when the council finds out they'll kick you out of the order and I doubt that the queen will continue to let me serve the senate," she said.

Anakin shook his head and took her face in his hands. " We're not going to worry about anything right now, all right? This is a happy moment. The happiest moment of my life," he told her and kissed her again.


	43. Shopping

A/N: Nothing really happens in this chapter. Next chapter may be better. After the next chapter we'll be speeding up time to five months later, okay.

Charlie.

* * *

Anakin didn't get to sleep again that night. As he laid in bed next to Padme, all he thought about was how he was going to end the war in time for the twins to be born. He couldn't let them be born while Palpatine was still alive. He had to act fast. He turned over on his side and rested his left palm flat over Padme's stomach. He wouldn't let his children be born in a war.

Something outside the apartment caught his attention. Someone was in distress. Obi-Wan. Anakin carefully got out of bed making sure that he didn't wake up Padme. He threw on his cloak and walked out of the bedroom. He moved about the darkened apartment and walked to the entrance. He palmed the door open to find as he sensed Obi-Wan standing there.

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin said in greeting.

"I'm sorry if I woke you Anakin, it wasn't my intention. I just needed to get out of the temple," Obi-Wan said.

"You didn't wake me. I was already up," Anakin told him stepping aside to let Obi-Wan in. "Something is bothering you I can feel it," he said as Obi-Wan walked into the apartment.

Obi-Wan stood by the window and stared off into the busy city. "We had a call for a council session, do you know what it was about?" he asked.

"How would I know? I'm not on the council," Anakin replied.

"Siri asked to speak to the council about something that happened on her last mission," Obi-Wan told him.

"Did she come clean about what's been bothering her, you know making her act not as herself?" Anakin asked.

"Siri is pregnant Anakin," Obi-Wan told him.

"Sithspit! Is it yours?" Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan turned to him then. "Don't be absurd of course it isn't mine! It's some bounty hunter's called Dirthmar, the one who was after you," he told him.

"Double sithspit! She slept with him?!" Anakin yelled and then paused listening if he woke anyone.

"With your yelling you'd be lucky if you didn't wake the whole city," Obi-Wan said dryly.

"Okay now I know why you're upset. I can feel how upset you are from this even if you're not showing it, it's coming off of you in waves," Anakin said.

"That's one reason why I left the temple," Obi-Wan admitted.

"You know that you can stay here tonight," Anakin told him.

"Thanks," Obi-Wan said and looked over at Anakin. "What were you up for anyway? And please don't tell me you're thinking of another way to kill the clone army," he asked.

"Padme's pregnant," Anakin told him bluntly.

"With the twins?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin nodded. "Isn't this a little early?" he asked.

"The first time around I was away a lot," Anakin told him and walked over to the window and looked out into the city. "I can't have them born during a war. I need to stop him soon. But most of all I can't have Padme worrying," he said.

"You know I'm here for you Anakin. Whatever you need me to help you with, I'll do it," Obi-Wan told him.

"I need you to promise me something Obi-Wan," Anakin said.

"What is it?"

"Promise me that you will always look out for my family even if I'm not around to do so myself?" Anakin asked him.

"Anakin you're not going to die in this war and Vader is certainly not going to come out!" Obi-Wan told him.

"Just promise me Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan sighed. "I promise that I'll look out for them Anakin," he vowed.

Anakin nodded. "I'll get you some pillows and a blanket. I'm afraid there isn't anymore bedrooms for you to sleep in," he said.

"That is if I can get any sleep," Obi-Wan said flatly.

"You'll get some sleep my friend of this I have foreseen," Anakin told him.

"You're still saying that?" Obi-Wan asked. "You haven't foreseen anything," he said.

Anakin only grinned at him. "That you know," he said going to fetch the pillows and blanket for his friend.

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Padme turned in the bed and opened her eyes to find Anakin watching her as he lay on his side with his head propped up. "Good morning," she said.

Anakin grinned. "Good morning to you too," he replied. He then lounged onto his back and pulled her into his arms. "You know that this place is awfully small," he said.

"I was thinking about that," Padme told him snuggling closer to him. "We're going to need our own place sooner or later," she told him.

"We can start looking today," Anakin told her.

"I have to go into the senate," Padme said.

Anakin looked at her. "Are you even going to take it easy before the baby is born?" he asked.

"Ani I have a job to do, I can't just put it aside. My job is just as important as yours," She told him.

"I know, I just wish that you would take it easy. Working too hard can't be good for you right now," Anakin told her.

"It would be preferable if I was pregnant during a war," Padme told him.

"Next time. This war will be over soon I promise you," Anakin told her and kissed her shoulder.

Padme looked up at him. "What are you planing?" she asked.

"Just the end of this war. I won't have our baby born in the middle of a war," Anakin told her.

"Have you been up all night planning?" she asked.

"I thought we weren't going to worry about anything right now," Anakin reminded her giving her a quick kiss. "Besides if you don't start getting dressed now you'll be late for the senate. How would it look to the galaxy if their champion for democracy was late?"

"Anakin promise me that whatever you're planning you will be careful?" Padme asked.

Anakin kissed her again. "No worrying okay. Everything is going to turn out alright I promise," he told her.

Padme wasn't convinced. She knew that her husband was on a suicidal mission and there was nothing that she could do to stop him. She bit her lip and nodded. "No worries," she agreed but inside her heart was breaking. She hoped that she was wrong. She prayed that she was wrong.

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Shmi looked up from her morning cup of caf to see Anakin walk in fully dressed in something she had never seen him dressed in. He almost looked comical out of his black jedi robes waring a dark blue get up from some world or another. He didn't seem to notice her since his face was stuck in a holonewspad.

"I never figured you'd be one for fashion," she said casually taking a sip of caf.

Anakin looked at her startled. "Huh?" he asked and then looked down at what he was wearing and back at her. "It's not mine. I_ borrowed_ it from the temple. I shout return this disguise before they notice it is missing," he said sitting down across from her. He set down the holonewspad and looked at her plastering a cheery smile on his face. "How would you like a tour of the city?" he asked.

"What are you really asking Ani?" Shmi asked taking another sip of caf.

"I can see that you're still as sharp as ever," Anakin said and sighed. "Okay it's not just for fun. I'm going apartment shopping today. I told Padme that I would do it," he confessed and plastered another smile on his face. "But who knows it could be fun!"

"What's wrong with this apartment?" Shmi asked.

"Well this apartment belongs to Naboo's embassy. Padme and I both want a place we can call ours. Besides this apartment is rather small," Anakin explained.

"And you have to start apartment shopping right away, why?" Shmi asked.

"Well it's kinda important that we get settled as soon as possible," Anakin told her.

"Why now? All of a sudden?" Shmi asked.

Anakin smiled to himself as he drank his caf. "I'm not going to get out of telling you am I?" he asked.

Shmi crossed her arms and tapped her foot under the table. "No, you're not. So spill," she told him.

Anakin picked the holonewspad back up and looked through it's contents. "Padme's pregnant," he said casually.

"What?!" Shmi yelled and slumped in her chair. "How could you make me a grandmother? I'm barely used to have two married sons and now I'm a grandmother. I'm getting old." she said woefully.

"Owen has twins or did he forget to mention Sabrina and Sebastien while he was here?" Anakin pointed out.

"That's different," Shmi told him.

Anakin raised an eyebrow at her. "How so?" he asked.

"I love Owen dearly, but I didn't give birth to him and I know that the twins are adopted. He told me how you manipulated him into adopting twins. Shame on you to use a womans heart like that," Shmi told him. "But your child, Ani that's flesh and blood. I'm not ready to be a grandmother yet."

"And you think Padme and I are ready to be parents? Mom, we both have demanding careers, we're instrumental in ending this senseless war. I've just had to change major steps in the plan to stop Sidious. But the baby is coming and the force can't slow that down," Anakin told her.

Shmi forced a smile on her face and took his hands in her. "It just looks like you're life just keeps getting complicated," she said.

Anakin smiled and squeezed her hands. "I wouldn't have it any other way. I need challenges," he told her. "Owen can have the quiet and easy life. I'd die of boredom if I were doing what he does everyday," he added.

"Good morning," Obi-Wan said coming into the kitchen for a cup of caf.

Shmi turned to look at him in surprise. "I had no idea you were here," she said.

"I came over last night," Obi-Wan told her.

Shmi turned back to Anakin. "Did something happen?" she asked.

"Jedi business came up and he came over to talk to me about it," Anakin told her and then looked at Obi-Wan. "By the way you didn't tell me what the council decided to do about it," he said.

Obi-Wan quickly composed himself and took a sip of caf. "That's the thing, the council hasn't mad their decision yet, they're waiting for the _opportune_ time," he said.

Anakin winced. "This can't be good for her _mission_. Who knows what they'll decide once it's over with," he said.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're talking in code? Is this about that girl you two have been worried about?" Shmi asked.

"Yes," Anakin told her.

"She's on a dangerous mission," Obi-Wan told her.

Shmi waved a hand. "I already know that she's pregnant," she told them.

"How??" both jedi asked.

"Filing papers can be very interesting," Shmi told them.

"I can't believe that Minga knew and didn't say anything," Obi-Wan grumbled.

"Minga has that whole doctor patient confidentiality moral. I'm very grateful for it," Anakin sad.

"You would be. After all she is your therapist force knows that if your secrets got out the press would have a field day," Obi-Wan told him.

"I wouldn't trust anyone else for _that_ reason," Anakin said.

"So since there isn't any training today how about a duel?" Obi-Wan suggested.

"I can't, I have to go shopping, I've been assigned by Padme," Anakin told him regretfully.

"It's a sad sad day when a jedi is forced to go shopping," Obi-Wan told him. "Perhaps you should have thought about these things before you got married," he finished as he sipped his cup of caf.

"I don't know what you're on about, I barely have to do anything. Everything that I do do is voluntary," Anakin told him.

"Oh so you volunteered to go shopping, _okay_," Obi-Wan said dryly.

"You're welcome to come with," Anakin told him with a grin.

"No thank you," Obi-Wan said. "I'll find something to do without your help, force knows the kind of things you'll have me doing," he added.

Anakin grinned. "Like what?" he asked.

"You'll subject me to your flying skills," Obi-Wan told him.

"Which is fun," Anakin told him.

"Your idea of fun is very different than mine." Obi-Wan told him. "I think it's time that I went back to the temple anyway."

"What are you going to say to Siri?" Anakin asked.

"What can I say? It's her mess," Obi-Wan replied.

"How about that you'll support her," Anakin suggested.

Shmi looked at her son and to Obi-Wan. "I think that is an excellent idea. Being pregnant in an environment that doesn't support attachments can be very scary," she said speaking up.

Obi-Wan looked down at his cup of caf before deciding that they were right and set it down on the counter. "Perhaps it's time that we've talked anyway," he agreed.

"Good. She could use a friend right now," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan sighed. "I don't like it when you're right," he said before leaving.

Once he was gone Anakin turned to Shmi. "Lets get ready to go out into Coruscant," he said standing up.

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"Ani how many apartments do we have to look at before you're satisfied?" Shmi asked as they got out of the speeder. She really didn't want to ride around Coruscant with him any more. Now that she was reminded of Anakin's pod racing days.

"I don't know," Anakin told her making sure that the black wig and blue hat he was wearing had stayed in place. He looked up at the high apartment building. It was higher than 500 Republica. "I have a good feeling about this one," he said.

Shmi looked at the add and her eyes widened. "Anakin how are you going to afford this?" she asked.

"I can afford it," Anakin told her confidently.

Shmi glanced at him skeptically. In truth she really didn't know how much money her son had. But she couldn't believe that he had this many credits. "Anakin, this apartment costs five million credits," she told him.

"And I told you that I can afford it," Anakin told her taking her arm and steering her inside the building.

"But how? Obi-Wan has told me a great deal about the life of a jedi, you don't get much money," Shmi asked.

"I have many secrets," Anakin told her flashing her a grin as they entered the building. They stopped in front of a man in a suit who kept looking at his wrist crono. Anakin cleared his throat and adjusted his voice into a deeper octave. "Mr. Cline?"

Mr. Cline looked up and spotted them. "Ah Mr. Janren! So good to see you in person, the apartment is ready for show.

As Mr. Cline shook Anakin's hand Anakin slipped a credit into the mans hand. "I'd like to see it for myself if you don't mind," Anakin told him.

Mr. Cline nodded. "I'll show you up sir," he said as they entered the turbo lift. Mr. Cline pressed a code in under number five hundred and the turbo lift started to lift up. Finally it came to a stop and opened up into a spacious entry way. "I'll just leave you to look around," he said stepping back into the turbo lift.

Once he was gone Shmi turned to Anakin. "Mr. Janren?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"My nephews name is Janren, it's his fathers surname," Anakin explained as he took a good look at the entry way.

They were standing in the middle of a dark tan marble entryway. In the middle was a large fountain. A curved staircase made of marble mahogany and gold stood in front of them.

"I like the fountain," Anakin said with a grin. He turned to his mother. "Have you ever seen one?" he asked.

Shmi shook her head and walked over to the fountain which was made of the same marble as the rest of the entryway. She reached out her hand and felt the cool sparkling water. "Tatooine defenantly doesn't have any," she said.

"I was mesmerized when I first saw one. I had never seen so much water. Naboo has large ones that take up whole city blocks," Anakin told her. "One day I'd like to take you there. You would love it."

"I'm sure that I would," Shmi told him. "Now I'm sure that there is more of this apartment," she said moving away from the fountain and walked over to the archway under the stairs.

Anakin followed and they walked into a spacious living room with wall sized windows. The walls were painted a soft green and there was a fire place in the corner along with a holonet hookup. There was another archway with velvet curtains. Anakin walked over to the archway and walked into what appeared to be a large dining room painted a tan color with dark red curtains over the windows. There was another archway with curtains leading into the kitchen. Anakin walked through there and was satisfied at that size of the kitchen as well as the state of the art appliances.

"It seems well worth the money," Shmi said standing next to Anakin.

Anakin nodded. "Yeah it does. I think this is the one," he said leaving the kitchen. He walked through the first floor and began climbing the stairs. Shmi only followed him knowing that this was going to be his new home and for now where Anakin is, is where she will be.

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Padme walked into the penthouse apartment alongside Anakin behind the relater Mr. Cline. It was rather large. Anakin had wanted something large. She watched him fidget with the eye patch he wore in his disguise as a nobleman from Naboo. She knew that he hated having to conceal his identity and he looked over at her. She smothed down her simple noble nubian gown and smoothed her noble hairstyle. From their disguises as Lord and Lady Naberrie from Naboo, they were able to fool the relater. Of course they were putting their apartment in Padme's maiden name. It was less known. Nobody would guess that they were living here.

The entrance hall was rather large with a high ceiling. There was a fountain in the middle which made Anakin grin. He loved fountains. Behind the fountain was a large winding staircase with a balcony on the upper level. Past the winding staircase was the passage leading into the spacious living room which lead into a spacious dining room which finally lead into a spacious kitchen.

"Of course this is a part of the more private apartments of Coruscant," the Mr. Cline said.

Anakin really didn't care too much about hearing a description of the place since he had been here already. What he wanted to do was show Padme the apartment himself. "I'm sure you could go on all day about the apartment, but I'd like to see to things myself," Anakin said interrupting the relater and slapping a credit into his hand.

Mr. Cline nodded. "Of course, I understand. Take as much time as you need," he said stepping back into the turbo lift.

When Anakin felt his presence gone, Anakin took off his eye patch and hat before turning to his wife. His beautiful pregnant wife. "Well what do you think?" he asked her spreading his arms wide. "I like the fountain! And the space! We'll have so much space we wouldn't know what to do with it!"

Padme smiled and placed a hand on her flat stomach. "Well, we'd have to do something about the fountain for when the baby starts to crawl," she said looking at the sparkling fountain. She looked at the wide space in the entrance hall. This really was what Anakin had wanted. A place of his own. And lots of space. Force knows he had never resided in a place so big. She gave him a radiant smile. "I'm sure that there is more than just an entrance hall," she said. Anakin grinned and grabbed her hand, dragging her up the winding staircase. "Ani! Slow down, you know I'm not as tall as you!" she yelled laughing.

Anakin stopped dragging her and looked at her with a certain gleam in his eyes. Before Padme could wonder about that, he promptly picked her up in his arms. "Then I guess, I'll just have to carry you up the stairs, Milady," he said and Padme laughed as he practically jogged up the stairs. He set her down at the top of the stairs and turned her to look down from the balcony. "Just look at it. Imagine that this could be ours! No more official residences for us, but truly a place that we can call home. A place that we could call our own," he said into her ear.

Padme smiled at the thought. Anakin had been prompting her to think about finding a place of their own for quite some time. She finally gave in when she found out that she was pregnant. She looked out into the entrance hall that gleamed of marble, much like the marble of Naboo. The water from the fountain sparking off of the marble. It was truly wonderful. She fingered that rich dark wood of the stair railing. The stairs were magnificent also. Made of gold, mahogany and marble. Anakin had truly found a gem. She turned around in his arms and traced his jaw with her fingertip. "Show me more, Ani," she asked making Anakin smile fondly. He pulled her away from the staircase and towards the back. The room he brought her to was extremely large, with a balcony at the end. Not to mention the built in vanity off to the side. She explored the room marveling at the soft blue color on the walls. Off to the side of the vanity was a huge closet that could house all of her clothing along with a few of Anakin's jedi robes. At the end of the closet, Padme discovered a door that led to a private refresher with a large shower and a large bathtub. Both big enough for two. Two his and hers sinks were at one side and the bathtub sat in front of a bay window. The refresher was made in the same marble she found in the entrance hall. She exited the refresher and the closet and looked over at where Anakin leaned against the wall staring out into the balcony.

"I could get used to this sight," he said blissfully as Padme stood beside him. He wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her closer. Yes, so could she. This was a sight rarely seen on Coruscant. Only the privileged had this view. She placed her hand over Anakin's left one which rested on her stomach. They were very much among the privileged.

"I love it Ani," she told him leaning into him and giving him a quick kiss. "I couldn't think of a better place to raise our family in," she told him.

Anakin grinned. "Good, because I'm dipping into my Secret Skywalker Founds for this," he told her.

Padme looked up at him questionably, "What Secret Skywalker Founds? I've certainly never heard of these founds in which you speak of," she said placing a hand on his chest.

"That's because they're secret," he told her before kissing her tenderly. He picked her up at that making her squeal as he gently laid her down on the show bed. "All we have to do is sign the deed and it's ours," he told her and nibbled on her neck over her secret spot.

Padme groaned as she felt her toes curl. Her fingers danced in Anakin's hair as he lightly nibbled on the spot. "Lets sign it," she purred.

Anakin looked down into her eyes allowing her to see the pure joy behind his eyes. "You mean it?" he asked and Padme nodded.

"Where do we sign?" she asked.

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Obi-Wan sighed and paused completely still before balling his hands into fists. He now stood outside Siri's door. He stood in front of that door for fifteen minutes. Anakin had told him to show her his support. But did he really support the pregnancy? He shouldn't be upset. He and Siri weren't together, they weren't even friends anymore. So why was he upset that she fuc-had been intimate with someone else? And since when was Anakin an expert at relationships and women????? This was absurd! He was a jedi master, he could handle anything. But this. This he wasn't prepared for.

Before he could make another move the door opened and Siri appeared in it's place. "It's time that you made up your mind. Either you are here or you leave," she told him.

"Is there any slight chance that there is the woman that I knew so long ago is still there?" he asked her.

Siri frowned. "Come in Obi-Wan," she said stepping aside to allow him in and closed the door once he was inside. "Has the council decided on what they will be doing with me?" she asked.

"No. The council has not decided anything yet," he told her.

"I see," Siri said flatly and sat down. "Then why are you here?"


	44. Dreams

A/N: I am so very sorry that it took me this long to update. I just had some personal things going on and I debated with myself on how I would start this chapter. Again I'm sorry. I know that you may have thought that I had abandoned you. But I haven't. I love this story more than anything I have ever written. I wouldn't dream of abandoning it. I have decided to skip ahead five months ahead it time with this chapter. Look forward for the events in RoTS to come. This chapter of the story is almost at it's end and I'm looking forward to getting work done on it's sequel I have so much planned for this story.

On a lighter note. My birthday is Thursday and I am amazed at how it had gone from one of the most exciting days of my life to just being another day. Wow I must be getting older. hmm.

I hope you enjoy

Charlie.

* * *

"_ANAKIN!!!" Shmi screamed frantically. "ANAKIN!!!!!!!!"_

_A dozen hands grabbed at the frantic woman trying to keep her still but she pulled and scrambled away from them. "ANAKIN!!!!!!" she screamed._

_The vision changed to that of Padme laying on a table screaming in agony also crying out for Anakin. She was in pain and there was nothing that he could do to help her. He tried to reach out for her but he was suddenly pulled away from her._

"Padme!" Anakin cried out of breath as he bolted up in bed. Before he could even think about what his dream meant he heard horrible retching sounds coming from the refresher and he was brought back to the present. He threw the covers off of him and swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He walked into the refresher to find Padme on the floor leaning over the toilet looking pale again. Anakin knelt down in front of her. "Are you alright?" he asked unable to hide the worry in his voice.

He had been reassured by his mother that it was normal for a pregnant woman to get sick to her stomach. And Threepio was being a _wonderful_ help in giving them all the information that they would need on human pregnancies and even gave them the different comparisons between human pregnancies and other species. Some things that neither Skywalker wanted to hear and Anakin promptly shut the droid up during those times.

"I didn't wake you again did I?" Padme asked feeling a bit mortified at waking him up.

"No I was already awake," Anakin told her. He summoned a wet cloth from the sink and began to wipe her face with it. "I don't care if this is normal, I don't like you being sick like this," he told her.

"It should be over soon enough," Padme told him.

"I wish it was over with now," Anakin said.

"I don't like it anymore than you do," Padme said.

"Can you stand?" Anakin asked standing up as he sensed the sickness was over with. Padme reached up and took his offered hands and allowed him to pull her to a standing position the movement proving awkward by her rather large belly.

Padme had been alarmed at how large she was getting. From the pamphlets that she had one of her handmaidens pick up for her she was sure that she was far larger than she should be. Anakin said nothing as she complained about it and blamed his giant genes. So far the only ones who knew that they were having twins were himself, Obi-Wan, Minga, and Yoda. Anakin had sworn Minga to secrecy once he explained that he had a vision of the children and said that he wanted it to be a surprise. Minga disagreed with him about keeping twins a secret from his wife. But when Minga planned on foiling Anakin's plans by calmly asking Padme if she wanted to know whether the baby was a boy or girl thus would also give Padme a clue in the matter, Padme had refused claiming that she wanted to be surprised. Anakin was a bit smug with Minga after that for a couple of weeks until Minga put him in his place.

"Just moving is beginning to get difficult," Padme complained.

Anakin said nothing as he lead his wife back to bed. Once they were both back in bed Anakin pulled her close. "Just imagine that in four months things will not only be back to normal for you, but our lives will forever be changed," he said.

"We haven't talked about what we're going to do," Padme told him frowning. Every time she brought the subject up Anakin had promptly changed subjects or found an excuse not to talk about it. On quite a few occasions Shmi frowned at this and made a point to make him know that he needed to figure things out soon. Anakin never thought of his mother as being so meddlesome.

"We'll figure things out when the time comes. There's no use in planning, we don't know what is going to happen yet," Anakin told her. It was with those words that Anakin thought of his dream. He didn't know what to make of it, it was very vague.

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Hours later after Padme had fallen back to sleep Anakin sat at the kitchen table with a cup of caf in front of him now cold and untouched. He sat there with his elbows propped on the table and his face in his hands. He couldn't get the dream out of his mind. Irrationally he believed that it would signify that his wife would die in childbirth anyway. But why would his mother be screaming his name like that then? What was going to happen? What was the force trying to warn him about?

"Ani?"

Anakin looked up at the sound of his mother's voice. Shmi stood in the doorway regarding him. She regarded him and looked him in the eye seeing the troubled look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" she immediately asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Anakin told her looking away.

Shmi sat down across from him and took his hands. "Tell me what's wrong. I know it's something big, I can see it in your eyes," she implored.

"You needn't concern yourself with this Mom. It's jedi business," Anakin told her.

Shmi set her jaw stubbornly. "It concerns you, _that_ is my business. If you don't tell me then I'll fear the worse," she told him.

Anakin inwardly sighed. He really couldn't hide anything from her. He didn't really want to. He looked down to where she held his hands and then back into her eyes. "Things are going to get really bad fast. There are bad things already in motion. The force reeks of the things to come. I can only stop so much from happening but so much seems inevitable," he told her.

Shmi looked at him detecting no hint of mischief in his features, just cold resignation. "Ani, no one can predict the future, it's so uncertain," she told him gently.

"I know what is going to happen, Mom, I've seen it," Anakin told her.

"Anakin," Shmi said. "You shouldn't worry about things that you think you saw. Whatever it was it couldn't be real," she told him.

"The force shows me things that it shows no one else. I've seen the future. If I don't stop him millions of lives will be destroyed. I need to stop him before he order's the clones to destroy the jedi. He wants us all dead. In four months time Chancellor Palpatine will call order sixty six which will exterminate the jedi. He'll turn the republic into a tyrannical empire and there will be no one who could stop him if I fail. I'm prepared to die in order to save the galaxy from the rule of the sith," he told her.

"Anakin don't say such things," Shmi told him sharply alarmed at the idea of her son dying.

"I know that it's hard for you to hear but you must. If I don't make it, I need you to do everything that Obi-Wan and Master Yoda suggests that you do," Anakin told her.

"No!" Shmi told him coldly. "You're not going to die, I won't allow it."

"You can't stop something if it's the will of the force," Anakin told her.

"Watch me," Shmi told him defiantly.

Anakin sighed and looked down at the table before looking back at her. "I don't want any of this. I didn't ask to know what was about to happen," he said and then whispered, "I would rather have gone back in time," to himself. "Some things you cannot change," he said more to himself than to her.

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Anakin had decided to spend his morning in meditation in front of his favorite fountain at the temple. As he sat there with his eyes closed he saw hundreds of clone ships, republican army ships and jedi starfighters fighting each other above the temple as legions of clones marched into the temple blasters at ready. Closing his eyes tighter as he prepared himself for the sight of the slaughter his vision changed.

"_ANAKIN!!!" Shmi screamed frantically. "ANAKIN!!!!!!!!"_

_A dozen hands grabbed at the frantic woman trying to keep her still but she pulled and scrambled away from them. "ANAKIN!!!!!!" she screamed._

_The vision changed to that of Padme laying on a table screaming in agony also crying out for Anakin. She was in pain and there was nothing that he could do to help her. He tried to reach out for her but he was suddenly pulled away from her._

Anakin snapped his eyes open and was surprised to see Master Yoda perched on the fountain.

"Saw something terrible you have?" Master Yoda asked. Master Yoda had learned to take credit into Anakin's visions.

"It's starting," Anakin said unable to hide his fear.

"Uncertain the future is," Master Yoda said more to calm Anakin.

"I fear that we wont be able to stop it," Anakin admitted.

"Already in motion that which you have planned stop it we will," Master Yoda said adamantly.

Anakin nodded but he couldn't get his dream out of his head. It was consuming. "Either way time is running out fast," Anakin said.

Master Yoda nodded. "Time for planning it is," he said.

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Hours later Anakin sat with Baxter in the great gymnasium in the jedi temple. The council was on the floor with Master Yoda. Anakin declined Master Yoda's offer to sit with them instead choosing a spot in the back out of the way.

Baxter leaned in closer to Anakin and whispered, "Any idea what this is about?"

"We'll see," Anakin whispered back keeping an eye on Master Yoda.

"You seem a little tense," Baxter commented.

"It's nothing," Anakin assured him.

"Well it has you worried I can tell," Baxter said.

"Will you two shut up?" a knight asked from in front of them.

"Why don't you just shove it," Baxter snarled at him.

"Either shut up on your own or I'll make you," the knight in front of them said.

"Go on and try it!" Baxter challenged.

"Cool it, Master Yoda's looking up at us," Anakin hissed throwing his friend a stern look.

The knight in front of them turned away from them satisfied with himself. Baxter shook his fist at his back before crossing his arms. "I'll get him," he grumbled.

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Don't ask me to join you," he said flatly.

He sat through the whole assembly quietly as the council gave them all secret assignments for order sixty six. Everyone got an assignment but Anakin and he knew why. He already knew what his job was. But it was off record like all the rest of the assignments. Through everything Anakin thought about his dream. He thought about the temple under attack. Failure was not an option. But his dream told him otherwise. His dream told him that he would fail. Something was going to go horribly wrong. And he thought of the possibility of it being his fault. He racked his brain thinking of what he could have done, how he could have jeopardized everything. And the more he thought the tenser he got. By the time the meeting was over with he was tenser than he had been in a long time. And as everyone filed out of the gym he could only think of one thing that would ease his tension. Unfortunately Obi-Wan was in a deep discussion with fellow council members. But Anakin wouldn't let that deter him. Not at this moment.

"Duel me, Master!" Anakin shouted from across the Gym catching Obi-Wan off guard.

Obi-Wan looked up at Anakin's face thinking he heard wrong. "What?" he asked.

Anakin walked up to Obi-Wan assertively. "I said, duel me Master. Or are you afraid that I'll make a fool out of you in front of all these jedi witnesses?" he said raising an eyebrow.

By now all eyes were now upon them as they stood in the middle of the Temple Gym. Obi-Wan looked at the council members that he was standing with when Anakin very loudly demanded his challenge. "What has gotten into you, Anakin?" Obi-Wan demanded. All around them he could hear the whisperers.

"Haven't I made myself clear Master? I request that you duel me. Show the rest of the jedi how it's really done," Anakin said throwing off his cloak and flinging it at a youngling who caught it, looking at Anakin with hero worship.

Obi-Wan looked to the council members. "I'm terribly sorry, I don't know what he's up to this time," he whispered.

"I believe he has requested that you duel. I do not think it wise for you to back down from a challenge," Master Windu said.

Obi-Wan nodded and took off his cloak, tossing it to the same youngling holding Anakin's cloak. He looked wearily at the longer lightsaber hanging from Anakin's belt. He hated that thing and didn't know why all of a sudden Anakin needed to have a dual bladed lightsaber as well as a single blade. He met Anakin in the middle of the Gym where he gripped his own lightsaber in his hand. He breathed a sigh of relief when Anakin reached for his single blade igniting it. Obi-Wan moved into position as Anakin came at him. He didn't move until the last minute and deflected Anakin's blade from piercing his shoulder instantly jumping into the defensive while Anakin took the offensive. Turquoise clashed with sapphire in a hiss of sparks. Obi-Wan held out his hand force pushing Anakin away at the same time that Anakin did the same. They struggled against each other for a moment before they each went flying backwards. Obi-Wan shook his head as he regained his composure. No sooner had he stood up than he had to deflect another one of Anakin's blows. He could feel the eyes on them as they battled each other with Anakin seeming to be on the edge for some reason. He had no time to ponder this as Anakin came at him full blast and they locked sabers again.

"What has gotten into you?" Obi-Wan demanded.

Anakin shoved him away and they circled each other. "You're holding back Master!" Anakin declared loudly. "You're showing me compassion, I don't want your compassion!" he then charged at Obi-Wan again causing their two blades to clash yet again.

"We are not enemies Anakin! I demand to know what has gotten into you!" Obi-Wan shouted.

Anakin paced in front of him like a caged animal. "Fight me like we are enemies!" he demanded.

"Does this have anything to do with your plan?" Obi-Wan demanded getting into Anakin's face so that only he could hear.

"I need you to fight me as though you were a sith!" Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan looked at him incredulously. "I cannot do that Anakin. I am a jedi, I will fight like a jedi," he said sternly. He stepped closer to Anakin and whispered into his ear. "I do not know how to fight like a sith. You know more about that area than I do," he said.

Anakin nodded. "Then fight me as though I were the sith!" he ordered.

Obi-Wan nodded in understanding. Anakin needed this. This was his therapy. Obi-Wan nodded to Anakin's second lightsaber and heard the whispering going on around them. "By the way, I hate your new lightsaber! It reminds me too much of the sith I battled on Naboo!" he declared loudly stepping back.

The whispering continued around them as they took their positions across from each other. Anakin put away his single blade and pulled his dual bladed lightsaber from his belt. He moved into position igniting it one blade at a time. The whispering grew louder as he did this. He needed it. He held his lightsaber over his head twirling it as he came at Obi-Wan and dipped it lower as he neared his master. Obi-Wan stood still as he got closer. Finally at the right moment, Obi-Wan blocked him right on time. As turquoise met sapphire sparks few once again. Anakin kicked Obi-Wan away from him. He lowered his weapon as Obi-Wan regained his composure.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you kick hard?" Obi-Wan said standing in position.

"That's only because you are still holding back! Don't! We are not Master and Padawan! We are not fellow jedi! We're not even friends! Not at this moment. At this moment we are enemies! So fight me like an enemy!" Anakin shouted.

"It's a little hard to picture you as my enemy, Anakin!" Obi-Wan yelled back at him.

"Then stop picturing me as Anakin Skywalker! Picture me as Darth Vader!" Anakin shouted.

Obi-Wan smiled slightly. "I'm sorry Anakin. I cannot do that," he said.

"Can't or wont?" Anakin asked getting annoyed.

"A little bit of both really," Obi-Wan said.

"Damn you Obi-Wan! Just fight me like you are fighting Darth Maul! You remember Darth Maul don't you Obi-Wan? The sith lord who killed Qui-Gon in front of you while you were powerless to help your Master!" Anakin shouted and the room went deathly quiet.

All eyes turned sharply on Obi-Wan to see his reaction. Obi-Wan just stood there and looked at Anakin hard. "That was uncalled for Anakin," he said calmly.

"Why are you making this so hard for me!" Anakin demanded.

"I'm making things hard on you? You requested a duel Anakin, not a fight to the death! This is very un-jedi like behavior for you," Obi-Wan said sternly.

"I need this!" Anakin yelled at him as they approached each other.

"Yes, I sensed as much. But that doesn't mean that you lash out at me. I thought you learned control Anakin. You must remain in control," Obi-Wan said.

"You're not the one about to battle the strongest sith lord in centuries alone in the next couple of months!" Anakin said hotly.

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "You wont be battling this sith lord alone Anakin, I wont let you," he said.

"You have no choice in the matter Master. Sidious will kill you on sight. I wont let that happen," Anakin told him challengingly. He then stepped closer to him. "I've already watched you die once by a sith lords hands, I'm not doing it again," he whispered.

"Sidious will kill you once he finds out that you've betrayed him, you know that," Obi-Wan said.

"I wont give him that satisfaction!" Anakin said hotly. He then looked around the gym at all the jedi watching him silently. He hooked his lightsaber back onto his belt and grabbed his cloak from the youngling and threw it on before he strode from the Gym. Once he was gone the whispering instantly started up again.

Obi-Wan took his cloak from the youngling holding it and put it back on. He walked over to his fellow council members. "I'm worried about him. This is too much for him! It wasn't that long ago that he had to run off to Tatooine to collect his bearings for a month. It's much too soon," he said in a hushed voice.

"If what Skywalker said was true, then we do not have that much time before we are whipped out. He knows this. That is why he's pushing himself. Have faith in the force, Obi-Wan. If anything goes wrong, we will be there to watch his back. As much as I don't like this, he is the chosen one. It's his fight, not ours," Master Windu said.

Obi-Wan nodded in understanding. It didn't mean that he agreed with it.

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Obi-Wan walked into the medical bay and into the room where Siri had taken up residence in as her due date grew closer. Since their talk five months ago they had renewed their old friendship and Obi-Wan was there for her in her time of need. The council saw this and had requested that he give them updates in Siri's condition while they waited to make their decision on what they were going to do about it. Obi-Wan knew that whatever the council decided that he would not be a part of the decision making. He didn't tell Siri this. She had hopes that he could be her voice in all this.

Siri looked up at him from the magazine she was reading and smiled. Obi-Wan loved to see her smile, these days he saw so little of it. "So I hear Anakin made quite a commotion during the secret briefing," she said.

Obi-Wan waved it aside. "It's just typical Anakin. Nothing new to be concerned about. How are you feeling?" he asked taking a seat.

"Very uncomfortable. I've been like this all day. Anakin was by earlier with a basket of what he called anti-insanity. It was filled with things to keep me occupied as well with sweets. I have to wonder who he charmed in order to get it," Siri told him.

"I have an idea," Obi-Wan said shaking his head. "Why are you uncomfortable?" he asked concerned.

Siri adjusted herself in bed. "Just a little pain in my back," she told him. "I've been assured that it's normal though."

Obi-Wan wasn't so convinced. "Any other pain?" he asked.

"That's it," Siri lied. "Tell me what Anakin is up to this time," she implored.

"That's classified," Obi-Wan told her.

"Give me a hint?" Siri asked.

"It's something that is going to get him killed," Obi-Wan told her.

Siri crossed her arms and pouted. "That isn't telling much. It could be anything knowing Anakin Skywalker," she said flatly.

Obi-Wan smirked.

"What's so funny?" Siri demanded.

"Nothing. I just haven seen this side of you in a long time. I was beginning to think that I never would," he told her.

Siri frowned. "I haven't changed that much have I?" she asked.

"Have I?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Force yes! I remember you being as brash as Anakin. Now you're all serious and boring," Siri told him.

Obi-Wan frowned. "War does that to a person," he said.

"And you've had your share of it," Siri said and adjusted herself again trying to hide the pain she was feeling in her abdomen.

Obi-Wan saw this and sensed her pain. "How long have you been in pain?" he asked.

"It comes and goes, why?" she asked.

"How often?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Not often," Siri told him.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "I've only been here for five minutes and twice you've tried to hide the pain you were in," he said matter-of-factly.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Siri insisted and winced as another spasm of pain hit her. "Okay so it's becoming more frequent and more intense each time," she conceded.

"Have you told Minga about it?" Obi-Wan asked concerned.

"No," Siri confessed and grabbed her stomach and cried out in pain.

"I'm getting Minga now," Obi-Wan told her standing up but Siri grabbed his arm.

"Don't leave me," she begged and cried out again.

It tore at him to see her in pain. "I'm not going anywhere Siri," he told her firmly.

Siri's grip on his arm tightened and she cried out louder this time. Fortunately Minga chose that time to pay Siri a visit and rushed over to Siri just as something dampened the bed Siri was in turning the spot on the white sheets green. Siri saw this and grew alarmed. "What's happening?" she cried.

"It's time," Minga informed her. "Help her sit up! This isn't going to be easy," she ordered Obi-Wan who did as Minga instructed.

Siri cried out in pain as what Minga explained as contractions hit her fast. Time seemed to speed up for Obi-Wan as he helped Minga assist Siri in giving birth. Each time that Siri cried out and the louder she got. It pained Obi-Wan. He couldn't stand seeing her in pain but he trusted Minga in knowing what had to be done. He knew little about the birthing process. But from what Minga had told him, he knew that this was no normal pregnancy. Cross breeding was never easy. Timed stopped once a child's screams mixed in with Minga and Obi-Wan nearly panicked when Siri went limp in his arms.

"She's loosing blood!" Minga cried quickly handing Obi-Wan Siri's child as she began work on stopping the blood flow. The child in his arms screamed louder as he sensed his mother's life growing weaker. He stood back forcing himself not to panic as Minga worked to keep Siri from bleeding to death. He busied himself with trying to calm the child growing alarmed at how pale Siri was getting. He prayed to the force for her to survive this while he chastised Siri from hiding her pain.

"She's stable," Minga breathed at last and Obi-Wan found himself breathing again. "She'll be out of it for a while," she said.

Obi-Wan looked down at the child in his arms to find he had calmed down and was looking over at his mother with curiosity. He knew that he had to inform the council that the child had been born. The council would now make it's decision for sure. "The council will want to know that the child was born," he said at last.

Minga looked at him. "There's no more we can do now. They'll want to test him," she said. Both of them knew somewhat of what was going to come.

"I don't want to leave until she wakes up," Obi-Wan told her.

"What choice do you have?" Minga asked.

"I know," Obi-Wan said letting Minga clean and dress the child before handing him back to Obi-Wan.

"Go. There's little that you can do here now," Minga told him.

Obi-Wan took one last look at Siri feeling relieved to see some color return to her before resigning himself to the task at hand. Wordlessly he left taking the child to the council where they would make their decision.

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From across the city Anakin stood on the balcony staring at the jedi temple. He closed his eyes and saw a battle going on over it, as though he was watching it take place from this very spot. He opened up his eyes as he felt someones arms wrap around him.

"You seem tense, what's wrong?" Padme asked concerned.

"Just a feeling," Anakin told her.

"What kind of feeling?" Padme asked.

"Something is about to happen. I can see it. It's going to happen soon," he told her.

"What are we going to do?" Padme asked.

Anakin turned away from the temple and looked at her. "You're not going to do anything," he told her.

Padme frowned. "I'm not going to do nothing Anakin. I can't sit and watch as everything we've fought for falls apart," she told him.

Anakin gathered her close. "Promise me that no matter what happens that you'll stay safe. No matter what you may see, you'll stay here and out of the way," he asked.

"Anakin," Padme said.

"Promise me Padme. You must stay safe. No matter what," he begged.

Padme could sense that he was worried about something. Whatever he saw, it had to be bad. "I promise," she whispered.

"Thank you," Anakin whispered and kissed her.

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Siri opened her eyes up groggily to see Obi-Wan watching her closely. "What happened?" she asked seeing the look on his face and then she remembered. "Obi-Wan tell me what's wrong," she begged fearing the worse.

"The council has made its decision," Obi-Wan told her.

"And?" Siri asked almost afraid to know.

"You are to stay a jedi. Your son has shown tremendous force ability and he will be trained as a jedi," Obi-Wan told her.

"There's something else," Siri said.

Obi-Wan took her hands in his. "I had no part in this decision Siri. I had objected but they wouldn't hear it. I'm sorry," he said.

"What is it?" Siri asked fearfully.

"The council has forbidden any contact between you and your son. They're being cautious about attachments. They fear it," Obi-Wan told her.

Siri shook her head. "How could they forbid a mother from seeing her child?" she asked. "Don't they realize how difficult that would be?"

"Master Yoda spoke for you, but the council had disagreed. There was a vote and their decision had been made. I'm sorry," Obi-Wan told her.

Siri's heart broke with the knowledge that she would never see what her child looked like, never hear him speak, never know him. She didn't realize that she was crying over the loss she hadn't realized she would feel until she felt Obi-Wan hold her.

"I'll look out for him. I promise," he told her. But it did little to sooth her. All she felt was loss.


	45. Battle Over Coruscant

A/N: Well here's another chapter. Hope you enjoy. It's not all that different than the movies tho.

* * *

A month later Anakin's danger senses woke him up as they screamed at him. He sat up in bed just as a loud boom echoed in the distance. Anakin ran over to the window to see dozens of ships entering Coruscant's skyline. "They can't be this foolish!" he yelled.

"What's happening?" Padme asked, the loud boom waking her up.

"Get dressed!" Anakin ordered dressing quickly. An art form he had perfected. When he was done he grabbed his lightsabers and his comlink. "Threepio prepare the emergency hatches!" Anakin called.

"Right away sir," Threepio said and another boom sounded. "Oh my oh my what is that?!" Threepio cried.

"Stop panicking Threepio and get to work!" Anakin ordered. "Artoo! Prepare a scan of the city!" he called as Artoo rolled out into he hall.

"Ani what's happening?" Shmi asked fearfully.

"Coruscant is under attack, quickly get dressed, Captain Typho will escort you to safety," Anakin told her.

Shmi palled as the war suddenly became very real for her. "You're not coming with us?" she asked freighted.

"I've got a job to do, every jedi stationed on Coruscant will be called into battle," Anakin told her and turned on his comlink. "Obi-Wan do you copy!" he called into the comlink.

"What took you so long?" Obi-Wan demanded.

"I have to secure everything here, I'll be at the temple in point two seconds," Anakin told him.

"You better hurry up, we're taking on the Inviable hand," Obi-Wan told him.

"Grievous is a fool and Dooku is too arrogant if he thinks he'll get away with this," Anakin told him.

"There's a method behind this. Attacking the capital can only mean one thing," Obi-Wan told him.

"Sidious is in charge of this I'm sure," Anakin said.

Just then Captain Typho burst in just as Padme and Shmi ran to join him. "General Skywalker, you better hurry up, I'll take things over from here," Captain Typho said.

"Be safe Ani," Padme said going to Anakin.

Anakin quickly kissed her. "This'll be over soon. We'll have Dooku in custody in no time," he told her.

"Come back to us in one piece this time," Padme told him.

Anakin released her and embraced his mother. "Don't worry about me, I've been in far worse battles," he told her.

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Shmi told him holding onto him tightly.

"You'll be safe," Anakin said releasing her before he ran out of the apartment with Artoo following closely behind him.

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Anakin and Obi-Wan didn't wast any time idly chatting as they met up in the temple's hanger. Both ran to their respective starfighters as padawans finished preparing them.

"We just received word the Grievous has captured the chancellor," Obi-Wan informed him.

"I figured that was his plan," Anakin said quickly strapping himself in. "All systems ready to go," he said.

"Yes, but what does he hope to gain from this?" Obi-Wan pondered.

"No time for second guessing," Anakin said as they took off into the sky.

As soon as they reached space their starfighters rocked from blaster fire aiming at them. Obi-Wan frowned. "Blast!" he called.

Anakin smirked as he blasted a Trade Federation Droid Drop Fighter. "There isn't a droid made that can out fly us, Master," he said

"Look out, four droids inbound..." Obi-Wan warned. They swerved in unison as four Trade Federation Droid Drop Fighters attacked. After several cleaver moves two of the Trade Federation Droid Drop Fighters collided with each other in a ball of fire. Obi-Wan struggled to remain in control of his ship. "We've got to split them up," he said.

"Break left, fly through the guns on that tower," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan flew to the left of a huge tower on a Republic Cruser. The Trade Federation Droid Drop Fighters followed him."Easy for you to say... why am I always the bait?" he said.

Anakin smirked, "Don't worry. I'm coming around behind you," he said.

Obi-Wan deftly maneuvered around a large starship's superstructure, but the two droid fighters stayed on his tail, blasting him with intense laser fire. "Anakin, they're all over me!" he yelled.

"Dead ahead! Closing... lock onto him, Artoo..." Anakin said.

Artoo beeped his reply as Anakin swept in for the kill. Anakin blasted one of the droid drop fighter. It exploded. Anakin laughed. "We got him, Artoo!" he called satisfied.

"You're enjoying yourself far too much," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin blasted away at the second droid drop fighter as Artoo beeped a warning an angry warning. "I copy, Artoo," he said.

"I'm going down on the deck," Obi-Wan told him.

"Good idea ... I need some room to maneuver," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan dove toward the surface of one of the larger Trade Federation Battleships and was forced to fly through a maelstrom of laser flack. He skimmed the surface, followed by the droid drop fighter, which was followed by Anakin.

"Cut right. Do you hear me?! Cut right. Don't let him get a handle on you. Come on, Artoo, lock on! Lock on!" Anakin called. Artoo beeped. The cross hairs merged on the droid drop fighter.

"Hurry up! I don't like this!" Obi-Wan called as he flew through a narrow gap between two towers on a Battleship. The droid drop fighter hit one of Obi-Wan's wings with a laser blast, and parts of the ship went flying around Obi-Wan's astrodroid "Ouch!" he called. Arfour beeped a blue streak. "Don't even try to fix it, Arfour. I've shut it down," Obi-Wan answered the droid.

"We're locked on ... we've got him..." Anakin muttered. He dropped in behind the droid drop fighter and blew him apart. Artoo squealed in delight. "Yeah! We got him . . . good going, Artoo," Anakin said smiling.

"Next time you're the bait . . . Now let's find the Command Ship and get on with it ..." Obi-Wan told him.

"Lock onto them, Artoo. Master, the Invisible Hand is directly ahead," Anakin said. Artoo beeped a reply, and it reads out in Anakin's cockpit. "The one crawling with vulture droids," Anakin finished.

"I see it. Oh, this is going to be easy," Obi-Wan said.

Ahead was the Invisible Hand with bat like droid vultures stalking around on the hull. The vulture droids transformed into flight configuration, lifted off the ship, and attacked the them..

"Come on, Master, lets get in there," Anakin said.

"Not this time. There's too much at stake. We need help. Odd Ball, do you copy?" Obi-Wan said.

"Copy, Red Leader," Odd Ball replied.

"Mark my position and form your squad up behind me . . ." Obi-Wan ordered.

"We're on your tail, General Kenobi. Set S-foils in attack position," Odd Ball said.

The protective ray shield lowered on the main hangar of the the Invisible Hand, and six new Droid Tri-Fighters emerged and joined the vulture droids heading toward the Jedi. Anakin and Obi-Wan extended the stability foils on the ends of their wings.

"This is where the fun begins. Ten vulture droids straight ahead, coming down the left side," Anakin said.

"Add five Tri-fighters on the right . . ." Obi-Wan said.

"I'm going head to head. See you," Anakin said going ahead of Obi-Wan.

"Take it easy, Anakin," Obi-Wan warned.

Four Clone Fighters move into formation behind the Jedi. "I'm on your right, Red Leader," Odd Ball said.

"Incoming!!" Anakin called.

Artoo squealed as five droid tri-fighters pass by at high speed on the right.

"Five more on the right!" Obi-Wan called.

Four more vulture droids pass at high speed from the left. All hell broke loose as they started attacking. Obi-Wan and Anakin continued to fly in unison, backing up each other. Artoo Squealed.

"Here we go," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan and Anakin split up and made a quick loop around the droid tri-fighters, ending up behind them. They blasted away.

"I'm going high and right," Obi-Wan said.

"Hang on. There are four more of them," Anakin told him.

"Stay with me . . . swing back and right . . . help me engage. Back off ... Let them pass between us," Obi-Wan ordered.

"I'm coming around. I'm coming around on your tail," Anakin told him.

"All right, engage . . . and hurry. These droids are all over me like a rash," Obi-Wan told him.

In one incredible move, Anakin swung in behind the droid fighters, blowing them away one by one until there was only one left. Artoo let out a howl as Anakin accelerated past the last droid fighter, slammed on his brakes, flipped the Fighter around, and blasted the Fighter from the front. Artoo beeped frantically as they flew through the debris of the destroyed ships. Anakin looked behind him.

"How many back there Artoo?" Anakin asked. Artoo beeped. "Three . . . Four . . . that's not good," he said.

"Anakin, you have four on your tail," Obi-Wan told him.

"I know. I know!" Anakin told him.

"Four more closing from your left," Obi-Wan informed him.

"I know. I know!" Anakin told him getting a little annoyed.

"Break right and go high," Obi-Wan told him.

"I'm going low and left," Anakin said disagreeing.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "He still has much to learn," he muttered.

Anakin swooped low and skimmed across a trade federation battleship, dodging flack as Artoo bounced along, trying to get out a sentence. "Hang on, Artoo. Obi-Wan, do you copy? I'm going to pull them through the needle . . ." Anakin said.

"Too dangerous. First Jedi rule: 'Survive'!" Obi-Wan told him strictly.

"Sorry, no choice. Come down here and thin them out a little," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan dropped in behind the vulture droids chasing Anakin. Arfour beeped to Obi-Wan. "Just keep me steady . . . hold on ... not yet. . . now break left," he said. He fired as he swung across the back of the vulture droids, blasting four of them away.

Anakin headed for a trench along the surface of one of the Trade Federation Battleships. He flew into the trench, which ended in a conning tower with a small slit between two main struts.

"You'll never get through there, Anakin. It's too tight," Obi-Wan told him.

"Just like the pod racing arena back on Tatooine," Anakin called to him. Artoo beeped at him nervously. "Easy, Artoo . . . we've done this before," he said assuring the droid. Artoo squealed in a panic. On the view screen Artoo's squeal reads out, "WE'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT."

"Wrong thought, Artoo," Anakin said. He slipped through the narrow gap. The trailing vulture droids crashed.

"Told you I'd get through," Anakin told Obi-Wan smugly.

"One of these days your luck will run out and you'll get yourself killed," Obi-Wan chastised him.

"E Chu Ta," Anakin replied.

"I'm just stating a fact Anakin, don't get offended," Obi-Wan told him. He continued to fire at the vulture droids, driving them into the explosions.

A Republican Army fighter was hit and exploded, spewing debris. The pilot spun off into space.

Finally, Obi-Wan peeled off and swung around, pulling up alongside Anakin. Squad Seven battles the droids.

"There are too many of them," one pilot called.

"I'm on your wing. Break left. Break left. They're all over me. Get them off my . . ." another pilot called.

"I'm going to go help them out!" Anakin said.

"No, no! They are doing their job so we can do ours. Head for the Command Ship!" Obi-Wan ordered.

Anakin knew that Obi-Wan was right, but he still wanted to help them out. He decided to follow orders and winced when another fighter was hit, burst into flames and spun off into space. "I don't like this one bit," he told Obi-Wan.

"Neither do I, but it must be done," Obi-Wan told him.

"Missiles! Pull up!" Anakin called as missiles were fired at them. He and Obi-Wan broke right and left, and the missiles followed them. Anakin did a barrel roll spin, causing the missiles following him to collide and explode. Two missiles continued to chase Obi-Wan. He banked sharply to the right, then to the left, causing one of the missiles to overshoot.

"They overshot us . . ." Obi-Wan said. The second missile streaked next to Obi-Wan's fighter and exploded. Obi-Wan's ship rocked, and R-4, screamed as the starfighter ripped through the explosion. Debris flew all around them.

"They're coming around!" Anakin called.

"All right, Arfour. No, no. Nothing too fancy," Obi-Wan said.

"Surge all power units. Artoo! Stand by the reverse thrusters," Anakin ordered as he spun his starfighter The missiles spun and collided. "We got 'em. Artoo!" he called

Two missiles continued to track Obi-Wan. "Flying is for droids," he muttered. Suddenly, Obi-Wan shuddered, and his ship started to plummet toward the surface of the Invisible Hand. The trailing missiles flew into what looked like debris, and detonate. Five silver balls flew out of the debris and attached themselves to the ship. The balls popped open, revealing small buzz droids that began to crawl across the surface like spiders.

"I'm hit! Anakin?" Obi-Wan called.

"I see them . . . buzz droids," Anakin told him.

The buzz droids crawled across Obi-Wan's ship and started to tear it apart. Sparks erupted where the buzz droids broke into the wiring. One of the buzz droids went after Arfour.

"Arfour, be careful. You have one . . ." Obi-Wan said. Arfour's head got ripped off and flew away. "Oh dear. They're shutting down all the controls," he said despairingly.

"Move to the right so I can get a clear shot at them," Anakin ordered from behind him.

"The mission. Get to the Command Ship. Get the Chancellor! I'm running out of tricks here," Obi-Wan ordered.

Anakin moved into position just off Obi-Wan's left side and angled his ship so his guns were pointing at the droids crawling over Obi-Wan's starfighter. Anakin fired and vaporized the the two buzz droids, along with the left wing of Obi-Wan's ship.

"In the name of ...!" Obi-Wan muttered.

"Steady . . . steady . . ." Anakin told him.

"Anakin, hold your fire . . . hold your fire! You're not helping here!" Obi-Wan ordered.

"I agree, bad idea. Swing right . . . ease over . . . steady . . ." Anakin said.

"Wait . . . wait . . . I can't see a thing! My cockpit's fogging. They're all over me, Anakin!" Obi-Wan called.

"Move to the right," Anakin ordered.

"Hold on, Anakin. You're going to get us both killed! Get out of here. There's nothing more you can do," Obi-Wan ordered.

"I'm not leaving without you, Master," Anakin told him stubbornly.

Anakin moved his ship next to Obi-Wan's and tried to physically knock the buzz droids off. There were five left. He managed to get one off, but badly dented Obi-Wan's ship in the process. One of the buzz droids tore apiece off of the front of Obi-Wan's ship. Flames busted out, and more smoke billowed out, obscuring the his view.

Anakin knocked off three of the buzz droids and the fourth crawled out onto Anakin's ship and started attacking Artoo. Artoo fought the buzz droid.

"Blast it ... I can't see . . . my controls are gone," Obi-Wan called.

"Get 'em, Artoo. Watch out!" Anakin called.

"Artoo, hit the buzz droid's center eye," Obi-Wan ordered.

Artoo extended an arm and aimed a stream of electricity at the swerving buzz droid. The buzz droid was hit squarely in the eye and fell off the ship.

"Yeah, you got him!" Anakin called triumphantly.

"Great, Artoo," Obi-Wan breathed.

"Stay on my wing . . . the General's Command Ship is dead ahead. Easy . . . pull up ... Head for the hangar," Anakin ordered.

"Have you noticed the shields are still up?" Obi-Wan asked mildly.

Anakin looked ahead of him and realized that Obi-Wan was right. "Oh?!? Sorry, Master," he said sheepishly. He streaked ahead of Obi-Wan's disintegrating Jedi Fighter and blasted the shield generator. It sparked and exploded.

"Oh, I have a bad feeling about this," Obi-Wan said as they continued into the hanger of the Invisible Hand. Suddenly the shield doors began sliding closed. Anakin and Obi-Wan barely made it in. Obi-Wan crashed onto the deck of the hangar bay, engulfed in a fantail of sparks. The blast doors slammed shut across the hangar opening, as material was sucked into space.

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Shmi watched on the overhead screen in the Republican Army's emergency headquarters. The battle overhead being broadcasted by secret satellites in the space above the planet. Apparently Anakin had thought of every security measure possible. Around her Padme and a group of fellow senators Shmi didn't know gave orders. Shmi sat at a station and listened to the com unit while keeping an eye on her son in space. But she lost sight of him as soon as he flew into the enemy ship and she stopped hearing his voice. Shmi startled when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.

"General Skywalker will be fine. You don't have to worry," a man said.

Shmi looked up remembering briefly that Padme had introduced this man as Senator Organa of Alderaan and one of her closest friends. "I always worry," she said.

Bail sat down next to her. "I've known Skywalker briefly through this war. His reputation defenantly proceeds him. Your son is the best out there. We're lucky to have him on our side. I wouldn't be surprised if he and General Kenobi ends this invasion pretty soon," he told her.

At that time Padme arrived. "Breha is on comm four," she informed her friend.

"She must have heard about the invasion on the holonet," Bail said. "Excuse me," he added.

When he left, Padme took his seat. "I worry too," she said.

"This isn't a pod race," Shmi said.

"No doubt those races had helped prepare Ani for what he's doing now," Padme said.

"What do we do now?" Shmi asked.

Padme took her hand in hers. "We wait. Anakin will let us know when it's over," she said.

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Anakin maneuvered around the oncoming junk and flew into the hangar just as the blast doors slammed shut.

Obi-Wan ignited his light saber and cut his way out of the cockpit. He jumped out just as his ship exploded. Battle droids rushed at him from all directions.

Anakin jumped out of his ship with his lightsaber ignited and cut his way through the battle to where Obi-Wan was fighting. Artoo popped out of the ship and followed Anakin.

"Artoo, locate the Chancellor," Obi-Wan ordered.

"Tap into the ship's computers," Anakin called.

They cut down the last of the droids and followed Artoo over to a computer wall socket. They cut down four more droids as Artoo tried to find the Chancellor. Finally, a hologram of the Trade Federation ship appeared.

"The Chancellor's signal is coming from right there. The observation platform at the top of that spire," Obi-Wan said pointing to a spot of the ship's image.

"I sense Count Dooku . . ." Anakin said.

"I sense a trap," Obi-Wan said.

"Next move?" Anakin asked.

"Spring the trap," Obi-Wan said simply and Anakin grinned. They started to leave with Artoo following. They looked back at the droid.

"Artoo, go back. I need you to stay with the ship," Anakin ordered.

"Here, take this, and wait for orders," Obi-Wan said tossing the droid a comlink. Artoo caught it in a arm.

Anakin and Obi-Wan headed for the elevator. A door opened in the hallway and two of General Grievous's bodyguards confront them.

"General Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker. We've been waiting for you," one of the bodyguards said.

"I hate it when they refuse to acknowledge my rank. Just because I'm younger than you," Anakin said to Obi-Wan.

"We are here to relieve you of Chancellor Palpatine, not join him," Obi-Wan said.

As a dozen more droids join the group, the jedi ignite their lightsabers and stand back-to-back.

"Anakin. . ." Obi-Wan said.

"Ready," Anakin said. They used their lightsabers to cut a large hole in the floor. They cut their way down several floors into a large generator room. Huge explosions outside the ship caused several large pipes overhead to break, and fluid spewed everywhere. They got up and turn off their lightsabers. Anakin dipped his hand into the fluid and sniffs it.

" . . . fuel. The slightest charge from our sabers will send this ship into oblivion. That's why they've stopped shooting," Obi-Wan said

"Well then, we're safe for the time being," Anakin told him.

"Your idea of safe is not the same as mine," Obi-Wan told him.

They began to run, explosions rattled the ship, and pipes continued to burst around them, spilling more fuel into the hallway. At the far end, six super battle droids dropped into the fuel. The sound of shield doors closing echoed throughout the hallway. They passed several large power generators, which were topped with sparking excess power discharges.

"They're sealing this section off," Anakin said.

"Six droids coming our way!" Obi-Wan said sensing the droids.

The last of the doors could be heard closing in the distance.

"Keep moving. There must be vents . . . This way," Anakin said.

"I've got a bad feeling," Obi-Wan muttered.

They move along a wall. Anakin climbed up the side to a small vent. The fuel got closer to the sparking discharges.

"We'll never get through that. It's too small!" Obi-Wan told him.

They moved toward a second vent. Obi-Wan was swimming in the fuel as it reached to within a couple yards of the ceiling. Anakin felt along the ceiling and found another smaller vent. He closed his eyes and tried to sense an opening, then he moved on. Obi-Wan had been forced into hand-to-hand combat with one of the super battle droids. It pulled him under the fuel. Just before he was about to drown, he disabled the droid by pushing him into an exhaust pipe. The fuel was now up to the their chins. Anakin found a very, very small metal grate, then pounded on it until the tiny grate broke loose.

"I found our escape vent," Anakin said.

"Anakin, this is no time for jokes. We're in serious trouble here," Obi-Wan told him.

"Only in your mind, Obi-Wan, look, no structure. . . ." Anakin told him.

Anakin grabbed the side of the tiny hole and gave it a big yank, ripping a large panel loose revealing a "man-sized" work shaft. They scrambled through it as the droids swim closer. They pull themselves through the narrow vent shaft until they reached a small hatch in the side of the tube.

"Here's a way out," Anakin said.

As the super battle droids reached the opening in the ceiling and the fuel got to within a few feet of the power generator sparks, Anakin worked the keyboard on the pressure lock, opening the latch. They climbed into a small passageway and slammed the hatch shut. They made their way through the ever-shrinking shaft until they reached the end. They squeezed out into one of the main hallways of the ship. Once they were out Anakin decided to seal the hatch close with his lightsaber.

"That won't hold when the fuel hits those power discharges," Obi-Wan told him.

"The blast will break the hull. This side's pressurized," Anakin told him.

"You still have much to learn, Anakin," Obi-Wan said.

A large bulge appeared in the wall around the sealed hatch as the explosion hit. Obi-Wan jumped back, then stood amazed. Anakin remained in his spot and calmly raised an eyebrow at Obi-Wan.

"All right, you win. I have much to learn. Let's go!" Obi-Wan conceded.

Anakin grinned at Obi-Wan satisfied, and they ran down the hallway.

"I hate it when you're right," Obi-Wan muttered bitterly.

"I disagree I thoroughly enjoy it," Anakin told him. They arrived at an elevator and waited for it to open up. They turned around to face three destroyer droids which start blasting away. Anakin effortlessly deflected the bolts from the droids as Obi-Wan frantically pushed the elevator button several more times. Finally the door opened, and they rushed inside under a hail of laser bolts. The elevator door slid shut.

"That was easy," Anakin said.

"What would you judge as hard?" Obi-Wan demanded.

"Drop your weapons! I said drop 'em," a droid voice said from behind them.

Anakin and Obi-Wan turned around to face an elevator full of battle droids. They ignite their lightsabers and cut through the droids effortlessly. The elevator began to move and then screeched to a stop.

"Did you press the stop button?" Obi-Wan demanded.

"No, did you?" Anakin replied.

"No!" Obi-Wan told him.

"Well, there's more than one way out of here," Anakin said looking up. He ignited his lightsaber and began cutting a hole through the roof.

"We don't want to get out, we want to get moving. Artoo . . . Artoo. Do you copy? Activate elevator . . ." Obi-Wan said grabbing his comlink. he looked at the control panel " . . . 31174 . . ." he finished.

Anakin finished cutting a hole through the ceiling and jumped through it.

"Artoo?" Obi-Wan called and looked up to where Anakin disappeared. "Always on the move," he muttered. Suddenly, the elevator plummets down the shaft.

Anakin quickly jumped and grabbed onto the hallway entry door. He watched as the elevator receded down the shaft and disappeared. He struggled to keep his grip on the closed door as sparking wires rain down on him.

Anakin continued to hang on to the narrow edge of the elevator shaft realizing that leaving the elevator was a bad idea. The door to the elevator shaft was then pried open, and two battle droids appeared in the doorway and looked down at Anakin. They pointed their guns at him.

"Hands up, Jedi! Don't move," the first droid said.

"Roger, roger," the second said.

"Great, Obi-Wan won't let me forget this," Anakin muttered looked down to see the elevator heading toward him at a high rate of speed. He looked at the battle droids leaning over him with their guns pointed at him. He calculated for a moment, then gave himself a push and flipped himself up into the elevator shaft. Before Anakin could arc into a descent down the shaft, the elevator raced up through the shaft, cutting the droids in two. Anakin landed on the elevator and quickly dropped back through the hole in the ceiling.

Obi-Wan, startled ignited his lightsaber ready to cut him down when Anakin stood up and straightened his robes. "Oh, it's you . . ." he breathed turning off his lightsaber

"What was that all about?" Anakin asked calmly.

Obi-Wan began, "Well, Artoo has been . . ."

Anakin cut him off. "No loose wire jokes . . . He's doing the best he can," he said.

"Did I say anything?" Obi-Wan demanded.

"He's trying!" Anakin defended.

"I didn't say anything!" Obi-Wan told him.

The elevator door opened and they carefully made their way into the main room of the General's Quarters. At the far end sat Chancellor Palpatine shackled to the chair. Anakin and Obi-Wan quickly put their mental shields up as they moved toward the chancellor. As they got closer they saw a concerned mask on Palpatine's face.

Obi-Wan bowed respectfully. "Chancellor," he greeted.

Anakin refused to bow throwing a hard mask of concern on his face. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Count Dooku," Palpatine said quietly making a small gesture with his hand.

Obi-Wan and Anakin turned around to see Count Dooku arrive flanked by two super battle droids.

"This time we will do it together," Obi-Wan whispered to Anakin.

"I was about to say that," Anakin told him.

Count Dooku jumped down to the main level and began approaching them.

"Get help! You're no match for him. He's a Sith Lord," Palpatine urged them.

Obi-Wan turned to the chancellor calmly and looked him in the eye. "Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords are our specialty," he said.

Obi-Wan and Anakin threw off their cloaks and ignited their lightsabers ready for battle.

"Your swords, please, Master Jedi. We don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor," Dooku said extending his hand.

Obi-Wan and Anakin calmly moved toward Dooku. "You won't get away this time, Dooku," Obi-Wan told him and he and Anakin charged at him.

"I've been looking forward to this," Dooku said looking Anakin in the eye as he locked sabers with him.

"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count," Anakin said forcefully.

"Good. Twice the pride, double the fall," Dooku said arrogantly as he locked sabers with Anakin and Obi-Wan again.

"Your moves are clumsy, Kenobi . . . too predictable. You'll have to do better," Dooku said as he blocked Obi-Wan. Anakin charged at him from behind and Dooku turned around fast to block him.

As the battle proceeds, Obi-Wan and Dooku tire a little as Anakin fed on the force growing stronger. He continued to drive the attack on Dooku. Dooku threw Obi-Wan back using the Force.

Anakin forced himself to keep his eyes on Dooku and forces Dooku up the stairs. As they reach the upper landing of the General's Quarters, Anakin leaped over Dooku. Obi-Wan reached the top of the stairs in a run, destroying two super battle droids in the process. Dooku turned slightly and used the force to pick Obi-Wan up by the throat as he turned to kick Anakin out of frame. Anakin hit the archway and watched Dooku throw a gasping Obi-Wan off of the landing temporarily making Obi-Wan loose conscious. Dooku spun around again and, used the Force to cause a section of the balcony to drop onto Obi-Wan. For a moment Anakin gave into anger and spun to kick Dooku off of the landing. Before Dooku could get up, Anakin flipped up off of the landing and attacked just as Dooku got up. Dooku locked sabers with him again and looked Anakin in the eye watching him struggle to keep himself from giving in to anger again.

"I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate, you have anger, but you don't use them," Dooku said shoving Anakin away. Dooku stood and watched Anakin stand up. "It's a pity I never managed to get you to Mustafar. This confrontation could have been much sooner if that bounty hunter had been worth much," he taunted.

Anakin looked at Dooku then with that revelation cursing himself for not realizing that it was Dooku who wanted him dead. "Too bad you failed, I would have killed you sooner!" he called as he regained his composure and came after Dooku in full force putting more power into his attack. He was determined to defeat Dooku this time around. His determination pulled off when he managed to lock Dooku's lightsaber, grabbed a hold of it, twisted and cut off both Dooku's hands in the process. Dooku looked up at him in surprise as he sank to his knees. Anakin crisscrossed both his and Dooku's lightsaber against his neck. Before Anakin could tell Dooku that he was under arrest Palpatine spoke up.

"Good, Anakin, good. I knew you could do it. Kill him. Kill him now!" Palpatine ordered.

Dooku looked at Palpatine sharply in betrayal. Anakin saw this and for a moment he pitied him. He realized at that moment that Palpatine had been using Dooku and manipulated Dooku into turning his back on the jedi in favor of the ways of the sith. "I shouldn't . . ." he said in hesitation He should take this chance to try to convince his enemy to change sides but his teachings told him that he was a sith, he was beyond saving. If he let Dooku live it could be disastrous.

"Do it!!" Palpatine ordered.

Anakin made his decision then. Dooku was too dangerous to be kept alive, the council would see this. They would tell him this. Without a moments hesitation he promptly cut off Dooku's head and then regretted it.

"You did well, Anakin. He was too dangerous to be kept alive," Palpatine told him as Anakin released him.

"Yes, but he was an unarmed prisoner," Anakin told him. He chose his words carefully. "I shouldn't have done that, Chancellor. It's not the Jedi way," he said.

Palpatine stood up, rubbing his wrists "It is only natural. He cut off your arm, and you wanted revenge. It wasn't the first time, Anakin. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People. Now, we must leave before more security droids arrive," he said.

He was wrong and Anakin knew it. As the ship rocked and explosions were heard Anakin rushed over to Obi-Wan, lifted the platform off of him and pulled him free. He knelt down and checked him feeling relieved that Obi-Wan was okay.

"Anakin, there is no time. We must get off the ship before it's too late," Palpatine told him.

"He seems to be all right. No broken bones, breathing's all right," Anakin said.

"Leave him, or we'll never make it," Palpatine ordered.

Anakin looked him in the eye. "His fate will be the same as ours," he said flatly and he slung his friend over his shoulder and headed over to the elevator with Palpatine. He hit a button and sighed with frustration as nothing happened. "The elevator's not working," he said and pulled out his comlink. Artoo activate Elevator 3224," he ordered.

Suddenly the ship shifted to its side as the elevator doors opened. Palpatine was thrown to the ground. Anakin jumped to the door frame of the elevator and looked into the elevator shaft. "Artoo ... do you copy? Artoo, come in!" he called. As the elevator shaft rotated, it become a long hallway. Anakin clung to the door frame with Obi-Wan on his shoulder, as the Chancellor struggled to join him. Anakin jumped into the horizontal elevator shaft with Obi-Wan still on his shoulder. "We can't wait. Come on, we have to be fast," he said.

Palpatine climbed into the elevator shaft after him. They started running down the shaft. The ship began to roll again, and the Jedi and the Chancellor were forced to jump from one side of the elevator to the other. As they ran down the elevator shaft it started to move upright. Anakin cut a control box on one of the doors, but before the doors can open, the ship moved to an angle, causing Anakin and Palpatine to start sliding down the shaft. Anakin grabbed some wires in the control box with one hand. Palpatine grabbed onto the Anakin's leg. As the ship righted itself, they were left hanging in the bottomless elevator shaft. At that point Obi-Wan regained consciousness and looked around. He frantically grabbed hold of Anakin.

"Did I miss something?" Obi-Wan asked.

"We're in a bit of a situation," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan looked down and saw Palpatine and the bottomless pit. They heard Artoo beeping on Obi-Wan's comlink. The ship began to roll, causing the vertical shaft to move into a forty-five-degree angle. They heard the elevator brakes release and looked up to see the elevator heading toward them.

"Hold on," Anakin said.

"What is that?" Obi-Wan asked.

Obi-Wan and Anakin looked up to watch the elevator approach them at high speed, then Obi-Wan turned to Anakin. "Oops?" he demanded.

Anakin looked at him before turning to his comlink. "Artoo, Artoo, shut down the elevator!" he ordered.

"Too late! Jump!" Obi-Wan commanded and Anakin let go of the wires.

They fell about three hundred feet before the tilt of the ship caught up with them, and they hit the side of the shaft and slide at great speed just ahead of the elevator. The shaft continued to rotate until it was completely horizontal. Anakin and Obi-Wan took out and threw grappling hooks. The hooks caught and they continued to fall. All the doors in the elevator shaft opened up, and the group swung through the open door into a hallway. The elevator roared by. They landed in the hall way.

"Let's see if we can find something in the hangar bay that's still flyable. Come on," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin took out his comlink and spoke into it. "Artoo, get down here. Artoo, do you copy?" he called.

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They arrived in the hanger to find it nothing but a total disaster. There was nothing but badly dented and broken metal. The ships were badly damaged.

"None of those ships will get us anywhere," Obi-Wan said resigned.

"I agree," Anakin said looking around.

"What are we going to do?" Palpatine asked worriedly.

"I don't know," Anakin said looking at Obi-Wan.

"Don't look at me. I don't know!" Obi-Wan told him.

Suddenly Anakin's starfighter was being sucked out of the hangar bay and totaled. "And I just got that one personalized," Anakin complained. Suddenly, the ship turned on its side. "Here, Chancellor, lock this around your waist, and hold on," Anakin said handing Palpatine the end of a cable attached to his utility belt. Palpatine attached it around his waist. Anakin and Obi-Wan threw their utility cables to a set of pipes in the ceiling and swung to a second set of pipes.

"We'll head toward the bridge and see if we can find an escape pod," Obi-Wan decided. He grabbed onto the pipes that ran along what was the ceiling and was now the wall. As he moved out into the hangar, two super battle droids started firing at him. Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber and deflected the bolts back at the droids, blowing them up. Anakin and Palpatine followed Obi-Wan along the pipes running along the ceiling of the hangar. Palpatine struggled against the escaping air of the pressurized hangar lost his grip as a pipe broke, causing a rush of steam, but Anakin managed to maintain his grasp on the pipe as Palpatine dangled on the other end of the utility cable. They were surrounded by sparks and explosions as the ship twisted and tried to break apart. Anakin moved out of the steam and struggled to pull Palpatine back to safety. Anakin was almost pulled loose in the buffeting winds. The ceiling behind them buckled, causing pipes to break, creating geysers of steam. Some bits of pipe went hurling into the blast doors and out into space. They made it through a hangar doorway and closed it behind them out of breath.

"Well, that was close," Anakin and Obi-Wan said together and then laughed.

They then broke into a run down the hallway until ray shields suddenly dropped around them, putting them in an electronic box in the middle of the hallway.

"Ray shields!" Anakin said miffed.

"Wait a minute, how'd this happen! We're smarter than this," Obi-Wan said.

"Apparently not, Master. This is the oldest trap in the book . . . Well ... I was distracted," Anakin said instantly excusing himself.

"Oh, so all of a sudden it's my fault?" Obi-Wan demanded giving Anakin a hard look.

"You're the Master. I'm just a hero," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "I'm open to suggestions here," he said patiently.

"Why don't we let them take us to General Grievous. Perhaps with Count Dooku's demise, we can negotiate our release,"

Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other with equal expressions of their faces saying 'he can't be serious' but they didn't voice their thoughts.

"I say . . . patience," Anakin said to Obi-Wan.

"Patience! That's your plan, is it?" Obi-Wan demanded.

"Yes, Artoo will be along in a few moments and he'll release the ray shields..." Anakin said at that moment Artoo came skidding across the hallway and bashed into an opposite wall taking a moment to compose himself. "See! No problem," Anakin finished satisfied. But it was short lived.

Several doorways open up suddenly, revealing two destroyers. sixteen super battle droids emerged from behind the destroyers. Artoo turned and zapped one of the super battle droids who then kicked Artoo over.

"Don't move, dummy. Ouch! Zap this," The battle droid said.

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin pointedly. "Do you have a plan B?" he asked.

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Obi-Wan, Anakin, Artoo and Palpatine were brought to the bridge where General Grievous stood.

"Oh yes. General Kenobi, the Negotiator. We've been waiting for you. That wasn't much of a rescue," Grievous said.

A battle droid handed Grievous their lightsabers.

"That depends upon your point of view," Obi-Wan told him.

"And Anakin Skywalker ... Last time we met you had destroyed half of my droid factory," Grievous said vengefully.

"Then I expect it wasn't much of a factory, perhaps you're loosing funds and skill," Anakin replied.

"Ahhhh, Jedi scum . . ." Grievous said restraining himself from bashing Anakin's skull in.

"Anakin, try not to upset him. We have a job to do," Obi-Wan chastised him.

"Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection," Grievous said.

"Not this time. And this time you won't escape," Obi-Wan told him.

"Artoo," Anakin commanded giving the droid a silent order.

Artoo created a distraction by extending all his arms, shooting out electrical pulses, and bouncing around. Obi-Wan, hands restrained with electro bonds, spun around, reached out and, using the Force, yanked his lightsaber out of the General's hand, ignited it, and cut his bonds. He continued to spin around and cut Anakin free.

"Crush them! Make them suffer!" Grievous ordered.

Anakin used the Force to yank his lightsaber out of the General's hand then as the droids surrounding them began to fire at them. Anakin and Obi-Wan jumped out of the line of fire as the bridge began to degenerate into chaos. The two jedi were then locked in a pitched battle between electro staffs and lightsabers. Palpatine was then taken away by two battle droids as Grievous walked around the bridge giving orders.

"Stay and watch your stations!" Grievous ordered.

Obi-Wan fought one of Grievous's bodyguards attacking him with an ectrostaff. When Obi-Wan's lightsaber hit it sparks flew everywhere. Obi-Wan was then unable to cut the staff and got whacked pretty hard a few times before he was knocked halfway across the bridge. Obi-Wan pulled himself together just as the bodyguard attacked him again, he then proceeded in cutting off the bodyguards head but the bodyguard kept attacking forcing Obi-Wan to disintegrate it.

Anakin struggled to defend himself against the other manic bodyguard. He cut the bodyguard in half and spotted the two battle droids taking the chancellor away. "Oh no you don't," Anakin breathed not wanting to let the chancellor out of his sight. He followed the bodyguards to the door and cut them in half.

Alarms blared as the giant spacecraft began to list and fall out of orbit. A pilot yelled at Grievous, "Sir, we are falling out of orbit. All aft control cells are dead!"

"Stay on course . . . Don't bother with them. Keep the ship in orbit," Grievous ordered.

Anakin and Obi-Wan manged to destroy the rest of the droids and turned to Grievous ready to arrest him. But Grievous picked up one of the bodyguards staffs.

"You lose, General Kenobi," Grievous said.

One of the pilots stood next to the General. "The ship is breaking up!" he said.

"We've run out of time," Grievous said as Anakin leaped over to the General while Obi-Wan ran at him from the opposite angel. Grievous in turn threw the staff at the window shattering it. Everything that was not nailed down flew out the open window. Grievous was the first sucked out escaping while Anakin, Obi-Wan and Palpatine held on for dear life. Anakin, who was holding onto the control panel, pressed a button closing the blast doors. Finally things stopped sucking out into space. The remaining pilots escaped the bridge heading for the escape pods. Luckily Artoo managed to stay in the bridge by attaching himself to the control panel.

"All the escape pods have been launched," Anakin said as he looked down into the control panel.

"Grievous. Can you fly a cruiser like this?" Obi-Wan asked.

"You mean, do I know how to land what's left of this thing?" Anakin asked taking a seat in the pilots chair as the ship jolted.

"Well?" Obi-Wan demanded.

"Under the circumstances, I'd say the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant. Strap yourselves in," Anakin told him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shmi watched on the screen fearfully as the ship that Anakin had disappeared into continued to be attacked before fire started appearing all over the ship. Anakin still hadn't come out of it yet. Padme had stayed at her side still clasping her hand. They watched in silent horror as the ship began to fall out of orbit.

"He'll be okay, he'll be okay," Padme whispered.

"Commander, we're receiving a signal from the Invisible Hand!" a technician called from his post.

Bail looked over the technician's shoulder. "That's one of our codes, accept!" he said.

"Stop your attack!"

Shmi and Padme both let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding as they heard Anakin's voice.

"General Skywalker is that you?" Commander Jixton from Corellia demanded.

"Who else would be ordering you to stop your attack?!" Anakin shouted over the comm.

Padme stood up then and calmly pushed Commander Jixton aside and stepped over the comm next to Bail. "What's your situation?" Bail asked.

"We've taken over the ship. All the escape pods have been launched. I'm taking her down to the surface," Anakin told them.

"General Skywalker do you think that wise? You must get off that ship, we're sending a shuttle," Bail said.

"Negative, there's no time. Prepare a landing strip," Anakin ordered.

"Steady . . . Attitude . . . eighteen degrees, Anakin," Obi-Wan said as the comm remained open.

At this point Shmi stood up, continued to watch the screen and listened to her son's voice praying that he could make it to the surface in one piece.

"Pressure rising. We've got to slow this wreck down. Open all hatches, extend all flaps, and drag fins," Anakin ordered.

"Temp steady. Hatches open, flaps extended, drag fins . . ." Obi-Wan said.

Shmi watched in horror as a large piece of the ship broke off.

"We lost something," Anakin said through the comm strangely calm.

"Not to worry, we're still flying half the ship," Obi-Wan's voice said optimistically.

"Now we're really picking up speed . . . I'm going to shift a few degrees and see if I can slow us down," Anakin said through the comm.

Shmi watched on the screen as the ship shifted some. Padme stood next to her. "The first thing their going to do when they land is coming in here. I'll go with the rest of the senators to escort the Chancellor to his office," Padme told her.

"You seem awfully calm," Shmi replied.

"Anakin knows what he's doing," Padme told her. "Captain Typho will escort you home. Now that the danger is over with it's safer for you to be home. Anakin will expect nothing less," she finished.

"I want to be here when he gets back," Shmi told her.

"Careful . . . we're heating up-twelve thousand . . . thirteen thousand . . ." Obi-Wan's voice said interrupting them.

"What's our speed?" Anakin asked.

"Eight plus sixty-forty. Eight plus sixty-twenty. Eight plus sixty. Temp ten thousand, nine thousand . . . we're in the atmosphere . . ." Obi-Wan said.

"Keep us level," Anakin ordered. "Hang on, this may get a little rough. We lost our heat shields."

"Five thousand. Three thousand . . . two thousand. Fireships on the left and the right," Obi-Wan said. "Landing strip's straight ahead," he said.

"We're coming in too hot," Anakin said worriedly which startled Shmi.

Shmi shook her head and prayed faster that her son will be okay.

"Cool them down!" Padme ordered the fireships.

"The Invisible Hand has now landed!" ground control announced. And Shmi breathed a sigh of relief.

Captain Typho then appeared on Shmi's right. "I just received orders from General Skywalker to take you home Milady," he said.

"Ani's alright then?" Shmi asked.

"It seems so," Captain Typho said taking her arm and leading her away.

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"Disturbing this move of Sidious's this is," Master Yoda said later that day as he spoke with Anakin and Obi-Wan just before the council meeting.

"I agree. What could he hope to have gained?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Hmmmm, Uncertain this is," Master Yoda said.

Anakin remained silent still thinking of the moment when he killed Dooku. He couldn't stop seeing the look he threw Palpatine. The feeling of betrayal. Palpatine had used Dooku, manipulated him. He should have shown mercy.

"What do you think? Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked.

"What do I think about what?" Anakin asked snapping out of his thoughts.

"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin looked away from him and out one of the temples windows.

"Feeling guilty about killing Count Dooku you are," Master Yoda concluded.

"I should have shown him mercy," Anakin told them.

"Count Dooku chose his fate when he became a sith, you know that," Obi-Wan told him.

"Dooku turned away from the jedi after Qui-Gon's death. Palpatine took advantage of the situation," Anakin said.

"Are you saying that Dooku was manipulated?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin turned to face them. "Possibly. We'll never know will we," he said.

Master Yoda looked down at the floor. "Always tragic when we loose a jedi it is. Tragic even further when we loose them to the dark side," he said.

"I'm going home," Anakin announced. "There's nothing left for me to do now," he said and left Obi-Wan and Master Yoda alone.

Obi-Wan watched him leave. "I worry about him. Perhaps this is too much for him," he said.

"His fate this is. Like it we may not. No choice he has," Master Yoda said sadly.


	46. Direct Control

Anakin returned to Twilight Apartment Complex unnoticed making sure to keep his cloak close around him as he approached the turbo lifts. He thanked the force that the apartment complex had a separate lift for each apartment. Reaching the lift to his own apartment he pushed the button letting the doors open up. He stepped onto the lift and watched the lift close just in time for the other tenants to fill into the lobby ready to return home from their shelters. When the doors closed he punched in his code and removed his hood letting the retinal scan to scan his eyes. Once the scan was over the lift began to move at a high speed. Anakin leaned back against the walls of the lift and allowed himself to take a deep breath for the first time that day. This battle was over. Dooku was dead but the war was far from over. Grievous escaped and Sidious was still in command. One thing was for certain, they weren't prepared for this one. Sidious knew it. The separatists caught them off guard. The lift came to a stop and the doors opened into the foyer.

"Welcome home General Skywalker," the security system announced.

Anakin ignored it and walked into the apartment ready to crash on the sofa but someone had other plans. As soon as he walked into the living room he instantly felt like he was being smothered. His mother held on tight to him as though she never wanted to let him go. Anakin wrapped his arms around her as he felt her tears drip down his tunic.

"I don't want you going into battle again," Shmi said.

"I have to," Anakin told her. "I'm a jedi, I'm commander of the Republican Army. It's my job," he said.

"I don't like it. I don't like the fact that you could die at any moment," Shmi told him.

"I'm pretty good at surviving," Anakin said pulling free. At that moment Padme returned home with the security system announcing her return. When she saw Anakin she instantly ran to him.

"I was so scared," she whispered into his tunic.

"This battle is over with. All we have to do to end this war is to find General Grievous," Anakin told her emotionlessly.

Padme stepped away from him to look him in the eye seeing him doing his best to hide his emotions but his eyes told a different story. "What about Count Dooku?" she asked.

Anakin stepped away from her. "Dooku is dead," he said.

"Ani..." Padme said.

"He was a sith. It had to be done," Anakin said more to himself than to her.

Shmi looked at her son and knew that he had killed this person. His enemy? She then saw him flex his artificial hand. "Is this the sith who cut off your arm?" she asked fearing that she already knew the answer.

But she didn't get it as Anakin walked over to the window and stared out at the skyline. "I had to stop him. He was dangerous, too dangerous to be kept alive," he said and turned to face them. "I had to play the role of judge and executor and I don't like the feeling," he then pointed at Padme, "That's your arena!" he told her and walked away from the window.

"You only sped up the process Anakin. Even if Count Dooku was brought before the senate for trial, he would still have been found guilty of war crimes and executed," Padme told him.

"Dooku was a pawn! He was used for the sole purpose of starting this war!" Anakin replied hotly.

"Which is why you were given no choice! Don't forget the crimes he had committed! He wasn't innocent Anakin. He did everything willingly!" Padme told him.

"Dooku was once a jedi. He was a fallen jedi. I killed a jedi today," Anakin said sitting down heavily and put his face in his hands.

Shmi sat down next to him and rubbed his back before putting her arm around him and resting her head on his shoulder. "Would a jedi commit such crimes Ani? Would a jedi cut off another jedi's arm?" she asked quietly.

Padme sat down on Anakin's opposite side and took his hand in hers. "Count Dooku turned his back on the jedi. He chose to become a sith. He was no longer a noble man as he once was when he died today," she told him.

Anakin looked up then "I should have shown him mercy when it became clear that he had been used. But I knew that the council would have done the same thing. I had no choice at that point," he stood up and walked over to the window. "I hope the war is over soon. With any luck Grievous will be found and we can end this war before it's too late," he said.

Padme watched him for a moment knowing that the war was bothering him. "Have you eaten?" she asked changing the subject. She didn't want to continue on the topic of death and destruction anymore than Anakin wanted to.

"I've been too busy," Anakin admitted.

"Lets fix that then," Padme said standing up and taking Anakin's hand in hers.

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"You know the army that you built was very productive today," Padme said as she undressed. "I'm sure that the senate will be very pleased."

Anakin came out of the refresher then and began to help his wife undress. "I'm not looking for the senate's approval," he told her and kissed her shoulder. "You must be exhausted from all the excitement today. Come, I've drawn you a bath," he said.

Padme turned to him. "If anyone is exhausted it should be you, you were the one in the thick of it," she told him.

"I live for a fight," Anakin told her pulling the pins from her hair making her hair fall down her back in loose curls. "All the excitement must have put a lot of stress on you. It is you who needs to relax," he told her.

"And you weren't stressed? Anakin, we both had our jobs to do, it was stressful on both of us," Padme argued.

"And _you_ don't need the stress, not now especially," Anakin said pointedly.

"Stress is unavoidable in a time of war for someone in my position," Padme told him pointedly.

"I don't know why you're arguing with me over this. I have it on good authority that some wives are appreciative when their husband draws them a bath, without being told to," Anakin said pulling her to him.

"I'm not the standard wife," Padme told him her mouth inches away from his.

"And I'm not the standard husband, remember," Anakin reminded her leaning down to take her mouth with his in a long awaited kiss.

When Anakin lifted his head ending the kiss Padme opened her eyes to find herself in the refresher not in the bedroom. She turned around and took a look at the state of the refresher and smiled. Anakin had out done himself turning the refresher into a place of serenity. "You never cease to amaze me," she said turning around to face him.

"I live to please you Milady," Anakin said pretending to be suave and giving her a bow.

Padme laughed. "Stop it," she said.

Anakin smirked. "As you wish," he said.

Padme stepped closer to him and placed her hands on his chest. "You are amazing," she said.

Anakin smiled. "So I've been told," he said.

"Are you going to join me?" Padme asked stepping away from him and walking to the tub.

"I hadn't planned on seducing you tonight," Anakin told her as she stepped down into the tub.

"So you're not in the mood then?" Padme asked making herself comfortable.

"I didn't say that," Anakin told her taking as seat on the side of the tub and began to massage her shoulders. "Just relax," he said.

Padme leaned back into his touch and closed her eyes loving what he was doing. "Ani, I want to have our baby back home on Naboo. We could go to the lake country where no one would know ... where we would be safe. I could go early-and fix up the baby's room. I know the perfect spot, right by the gardens," she said. Anakin didn't say anything right away. "What do you think?" she asked.

"That sounds nice," Anakin said choosing his words carefully. "What if I can't join you in this?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Padme asked looking at him.

"Nothing, just negative thinking. Of course I'll be there. It would be a perfect excuse to bring my mother there," he said.

Padme smiled. "I hope that she would love it as much as we do," she said.

Anakin's hands dipped lower to massage her lower back. "I've been doing some thinking too," he said.

"What about?" Padme asked closing her eyes again.

"Names," Anakin said. "I have two favorites," he told her.

Padme opened her eyes and looked up at him. "What are they?" she asked interested.

"Luke for a boy and Leia for a girl," Anakin told her.

"Have you been reading my mind again?" Padme asked narrowing her eyes at him.

"Not since you told me not to on Naboo," Anakin told her honestly. "Why do you ask?" he asked.

"Because those are names that I had picked out," she told him.

"Then we obviously think alike," Anakin told her.

"We don't think alike," Padme told him.

"On this we do," Anakin told her.

"Why do I get the feeling that there is something that you're not telling me?" Padme asked him.

_Because there are a lot of things I'm not telling you_ Anakin thought. "I tell you everything that I can tell you, you know that," he told her.

"Yes, but, there's something important that you're keeping from me. It's something that I should know isn't it?" Padme replied.

Anakin paused for a moment. He should tell her something. Anything to get her off of this subject. "I had a vision," he said at last. _Not that!_ the voice inside him screamed at him.

"What about?" Padme asked getting worried. "Is it the baby, is something wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing is wrong, Padme," Anakin assured her. Yet.

"Then what is it?" Padme asked him.

"It was about two children. Twins," he told her simply.

"Twins? Anakin there isn't a history of twins in my family, are you certain about this?" Padme asked.

"Quite. How else do you think I came up with the names you were thinking of," Anakin told her resuming his work on her back.

"You could be covering up for the fact that you read my mind," Padme told him.

"You don't want twins do you?" Anakin asked.

"That's not it. It's just, I don't know..." Padme said.

"Well, Senator Amidala, you're at a loss of words. I didn't think that was possible," Anakin teased.

"This isn't funny Anakin," Padme told him.

"It is for me," Anakin told her.

Padme reached up behind her and grabbed him by the shirt and pulled making sure his face hit the water and held for a second before releasing him.

Anakin straightened up laughing. "I struck a nerve," he said.

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Anakin rushed into the Briefing Room at the jedi temple. By the time he reached the chamber, the last of the Jedi were leaving. Only Obi-Wan remained at the front of the lecture hall. He was shutting off some holograms and electronic charts and maps. Anakin slowed his pace as he approached Obi-Wan.

"You missed the report on the Outer Rim sieges," Obi-Wan told him.

"I was held up. I'm sorry, I have no excuse," Anakin said. Obi-Wan looked at him then. "I'll tell you later," he said.

"In short, they are going very well. Saleucami has fallen, and Master Vos has moved his troops to Boz Pity," Obi-Wan told him.

"Then what's wrong?"Anakin asked.

"The Senate is expected to vote more executive powers to the Chancellor today," Obi-Wan informed him.

"I don't know how to feel about that. On one hand it covers things up, on another it gives Palpatine what he wants," Anakin said.

"He has requested your presence," Obi-Wan told him cutting to the point.

"What for?" Anakin asked getting suspicious.

"He did not say," Obi-Wan told him.

"He didn't inform the Jedi Council? That's unusual," Anakin said.

"All of this is unusual, and it's making me feel uneasy," Obi-Wan told him.

"I know the feeling," Anakin told him. "I should go and find out what this is about," he said.

"You must be careful Anakin. By the looks of it he has something up his sleeve. The attack on the capital yesterday was an unexpected move and I don't like what it means," Obi-Wan said.

"Whatever this means we'll find out. This war is going to be over soon," Anakin told him.

"What did you learn of it in the future about this war?" Obi-Wan asked in a hushed tone.

"Just that a significant battle was the beginning of the end of the war. A lot of the history was rewritten by the time I arrived," Anakin told him.

"It's just as well. Go, we'll be waiting for you to get back," Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin nodded before leaving the room.

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When Anakin arrived at the chancellor's office Palpatine stood looking out the window seeing the damage that was done the day before. There was a brown haze in the skyline this morning. Anakin stood at the door for a moment. He knew that Palpatine sensed his arrival but he wouldn't acknowledge it until Anakin spoke. "You wanted to see me Chancellor?" Anakin said walking more fully into the office.

Palpatine turned around to face him plastering a smile on his face. "Oh Anakin, good you're here," he said as Anakin approached him. "I have to say that your quick thinking and heroics saved many lives yesterday," he said.

"While I appreciate your praise Chancellor, I must point out that I wasn't the only one fighting yesterday," Anakin said.

"Of course, that army of yours is most impressive. You must be very proud," Palpatine told him.

Anakin didn't say anything to that. He wasn't sure what he could say to to sound humble about it. Padme would know more of what he could say.

Palpatine's face changed from a smile to one of someone who had important news to share. "Anakin, this afternoon the Senate is going to call on me to take direct control of the Jedi Council," he said.

Anakin looked at him sharply stuffing down his alarmed feelings. "The Jedi will no longer report to the Senate?" he said skeptically.

"They will report to me . . . personally. The Senate is too unfocused to conduct a war. This will bring a quick end to things," Palpatine told him.

Anakin quickly thought this over. He didn't like this, not one bit. But what could he do? What could the jedi do about it. They were in a tight position over this. "The Jedi Council may not see it that way," he said unable to hide his dislike.

"There are times when we must all endure adjustments to the constitution in the name of security," Palpatine told him.

It was a lousy excuse in Anakin's opinion. "With all due respect, sir, the Council is in no mood for more constitutional amendments," Anakin told him.

"Thank you, my friend, but in this case I have no choice . . . this war must be won," Palpatine told him brushing Anakin's obvious dislike aside.

"Everyone will agree to that," Anakin told him testily.

"Anakin, I've known you since you were a small boy. I have advised you over the years when I could ... I am very proud of your accomplishments. You have won many battles the Jedi Council thought were lost . . . and you saved my life. I hope you trust me, Anakin," Palpatine said taking a new tactic.

Anakin could sense the true reason why Palpatine called him in here was going to unfold at this moment. "Of course," he replied using the force to hide that he was lying through his teeth.

"I need your help, Son," Palpatine said showing a mask of worry.

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked eager to get to the bottom of Palpatine's request.

"I fear the Jedi. The Council keeps pushing for more control. They're shrouded in secrecy and obsessed with maintaining their autonomy . . . ideals. I find simply incomprehensible in a democracy," Palpatine told him looking him in the eye.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at that remark. "I can assure you that the Jedi are dedicated to the values of the Republic, sir," he said defensively.

"Nevertheless, their actions will speak more loudly than their words. I'm depending on you," Palpatine told him walking away from the window.

"For what? I don't understand," Anakin replied keeping his voice neutral as he followed Palpatine around the office.

"To be the eyes, ears, and voice of the Republic . . ." Palpatine told him, "Anakin . . . I'm appointing you to be my personal representative on the Jedi Council," he finished.

Anakin froze. Yes he wanted to be a master on the council. But not like this. He wanted to earn it and be recognized as earning it. "Me? A Master? I am overwhelmed, sir, but the Council elects its own members. They will never accept this," he said trying to show that he was appreciative yet humble.

Palpatine took a seat at his desk. "I think they will . . . they need you more than you know," he said.

Anakin took another look out into the skyline of Coruscant. So this was the point of the attack yesterday, to gain control of the jedi council.

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Anakin ran through the temple until he reached Master Yoda's quarters. When he got there he took a deep breath and palmed the door open and went inside. "He's taking control of the council!" Anakin said bringing both Master Yoda and Obi-Wan out of their meditation.

"What? How can this be?" Obi-Wan asked in disbelief.

"He said that the senate is giving him the powers to amend the constitution in order to do this," Anakin explained.

"What else did he want?" Obi-Wan asked sensing more.

"He wants me on the council, to be his eyes, ears and voice. He said something about the jedi taking control of the senate," Anakin told them.

"Disturbing this is," Master Yoda said speaking up. "Like this the council will not," he said looking at Anakin.

"That's what I told him, Master," Anakin told him.

"Giving you what you want he is," Master Yoda said narrowing his eyes.

"With all due respect Master, yes, I wish to be on the council, to be a master, but not like this. Never like this," Anakin told him.

"Anakin, you must understand, the council will not trust your motives with this," Obi-Wan told him.

"But it's not what I asked for! Surely you believe that!" Anakin said.

"Of course _we_ believe that, it's the rest of the council that will not be so sure," Obi-Wan said.

"Take this lightly the council will not," Master Yoda told them. "Grant you the rank of master, we will not," he told him.

"I understand," Anakin said. He had to come up with a plan soon. But he sensed that things are unraveling sooner than expected.

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Padme, Bail Organa, and senators Mon Mothma, Fang Zar, Terr Taneel, and Giddean Danu sat in Senator Organa 's office later that day.

"Now that he has control of the Jedi Council, the Chancellor has appointed Governors to oversee all star systems in the Republic," Bail said.

"When did this happen?" Fang Zar asked.

"The decree was posted this morning," Bail informed them

"Do you think he will dismantle the Senate?" Padme asked alarmed.

"Why bother? As a practical matter, the Senate no longer exists," Mon Mothma said.

"The constitution is in shreds. Amendment after amendment . . . executive directives, sometimes a dozen in one day," Giddean Danu said outraged.

"We can't let a thousand years of democracy disappear without a fight," Bail said determined. Everyone looked at each other, a little worried at the implications of what was just said.

"What are you suggesting?" Terr Taneel asked.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to sound like a Separatist," Bail said.

"We are not Separatists trying to leave the Republic. We are loyalists, trying to preserve democracy in the Republic," Mon Mothma said.

"It has become clear that what General Skywalker had said about Chancellor Palpatine is true," Bail said.

"The Chancellor has played the Senators well. They know where the power lies, and they will do whatever it takes to share in it. Palpatine has become a dictator and we have helped him to do it," Mon Mothma said dismayed.

"I just can't believe that all this has happened. How we have all been fools. How I could have helped him in gaining his power," Padme said.

"You cannot blame yourself Senator. Chancellor Palpatine has fooled us all," Giddean Danu said.

"At this point we must work harder with the jedi. For now they are the only ones we could trust," Mon Mothma said.

"At this point we must not discuss this with anyone, even those closest to you, without everyone in this room agreeing," Bail said.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement as Padme considered it. Finally she looked Bail in the eye. "Agreed," she said.


	47. Mistrust

A/N: I'm sorry that it took me a bit longer to update. But you'll find that as we get closer to the end, I might take longer to update. You see I'm not looking forward to ending this story, I enjoy writing it so much. I know that you'll like the ending though.. (evil grin).

Charlie.

* * *

Anakin waited outside the high council chambers in a fit of nerves. He could feel the outrage from the council members after receiving the news. Some of it was aimed at him. He stood up and began to pace. He didn't ask for this. He didn't see this coming. He should have asked the Master Yoda of the future what had happened. If he had then they wouldn't have been blindsided like this. They would have known!

"Will you relax?" Baxter asked from his position as guard.

"How can I relax when a sith lord now has control of the council! With the mistrust aimed at me!" Anakin retorted.

"I don't get it, why don't you just destroy this sith lord right here and now! You already got Dooku," Baxter said.

"It's not that easy," Anakin told him.

"Why not?" Baxter challenged.

Anakin stopped and looked at his friend. "The situation is delicate. The jedi must take extra care. If we strike before it's too late, the repercussions could..." he said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Geez Anakin. You've lost your edge," Baxter told him.

"I've grown up, you should try it some time," Anakin told him.

"Not at the expense of loosing my edge. It's what wins battles for me," Baxter told him. He looked back behind him as the doors to the council chambers opened. "Looks like they're ready for you," he said.

Anakin looked over at the opening doors and squared his shoulders. "It's just like Geonosis," he said before he walked into the chamber. He walked fully into the chamber and stood in the middle of the room. He was surrounded by the Jedi Council, Mace Windu, Saesee Tiin Obi-Wan, Yoda, the holograms of Plo Koon and Ki-Adi-Mundi.

"Anakin Skywalker, we have approved your appointment to the Council as the Chancellor's personal representative," Mace said.

"I will do my best to uphold the principles of the Jedi Order," Anakin vowed taking a breath.

"The Council does not allow this appointment lightly. Disturbing is this move by Chancellor Palpatine," Saesee Tiin said.

"I understand Master," Anakin said.

"You are on this Council, but we do not grant you the rank of Master," Mace told him.

Anakin looked around the room well aware of the mistrust from some of the council members. "I didn't ask for this. I know that some of you think that I had to have, but I didn't," he told them.

"But it's what you wanted is it not?" Ki-Adi-Mundi demanded.

"I will not deny that. But not like this! How can you show nothing but distrust with me after all that I have done! I have given you no reason to mistrust me!" Anakin told them.

"Have a seat Skywalker!" Mace ordered.

"Forgive me Masters," Anakin said composing himself and sat down in an empty chair next to Obi-Wan who shook his head at him.

"We have surveyed all systems in the Republic, and have found no sign of General Grievous," Ki-Adi-Mundi said changing the subject and getting to business.

"Hiding in the Outer Rim, Grievous is. The outlying systems, you must sweep," Master Yoda said.

"It may take some time . . . we do not have many ships to spare," Obi-Wan told them.

"We cannot take ships from the front line," Mace said.

"And yet, it would be fatal for us to allow the droid armies to regroup," Obi-Wan countered.

"Master Kenobi, our spies contact, you must, and then wait," Master Yoda said giving Obi-Wan the assignment.

"What about the droid attack on the Wookiees?" Saesee Tiin asked

"It is critical we send an attack group there, immediately!" Mace said.

"He's right, that is a system we cannot afford to lose. It's the main navigation route for the southwestern quadrant," Obi-Wan said agreeing.

"I know that system well. It would take us little time to drive the droids off that planet," Anakin said speaking up.

"Skywalker, your assignment is here with the Chancellor, and Kenobi must find General Grievous," Mace said patiently.

"Go, I will. Good relations with the Wookiees, I have," Master Yoda said. Anakin threw him a desperate look.

"It is settled then. Master Yoda will take a battalion of clones to reinforce the Wookiees on Kashyyyk. May the Force be with us all," Mace said catching the desperate look on Anakin's face.

The council members stood up all leaving. Obi-Wan lightly grabbed Anakin's arm and steered him out of the chamber. "You are being very closely watched," he whispered to Anakin.

Anakin looked at him then and Obi-Wan let him go when they boarded a lift by themselves. "They still don't trust me, after everything they don't trust me!" Anakin said.

"Anakin, you have to admit that your past anger and outbursts, like the one today, and the fact that you had once been close to the chancellor along with Vader have given them reasons to doubt you," Obi-Wan told him.

"I didn't ask for this!" Anakin told him getting in his face. "If they can't find it in the force to at least trust my intentions then they can find another chosen one! Because after this I quite!"

"You don't mean that Anakin," Obi-Wan said when Anakin put distance between them and turned away.

"Why shouldn't I? I'm so frinken sick of the restrictions and mistrust!" Anakin told him.

"You can't stop being who you are Anakin. You are every bit a jedi as I am. You always have been," Obi-Wan told him.

"What good is a jedi that is not to be trusted Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked.

"Anakin I trust you with my life, so does Minga and Baxter and Master Yoda and not to mention many other jedi in this temple!" Obi-Wan told him.

The lift came to a stop and just before the doors opened Anakin spoke. "When this is over the council will have no reasons to mistrust me I can assure you." The doors opened up and then he walked away from the lift leaving Obi-Wan pondering the true meaning behind Anakin's words.

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Obi-Wan walked with Mace and Master Yoda to the Republican Hanger where Master Yoda would be leaving from. Obi-Wan quickly glanced at Mace before turning to Master Yoda. "I am worried about Anakin," he said. "He is under a lot of stress over this sith lord and now with Count Dooku's death. I fear he is too aware of the magnitude of what he must do."

"Feels betrayed young Skywalker does. A long time considered Chancellor Palpatine his friend he did," Master Yoda said.

"It's very dangerous, putting them together. I don't think the boy can handle it. I don't trust him," Mace said.

"Anakin is trustworthy. He knows what is right and what is wrong. I trust him with my life," Obi-Wan said in Anakin's defense.

"I wish that I did," Mace said.

"With all due respect, Master, is he not the Chosen One? Is he not to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force?" Obi-Wan asked raising an eyebrow.

"So the prophecy says," Mace replied.

"A prophecy that understood is not," Master Yoda said. "And now destroy the Droid armies on Kashyyyk, I will. May the Force be with you," he said once they reached the gunship.

Obi-Wan and Mace bowed to the aging jedi master.

"May the force be with you," Mace said and turned to leave.

Obi-Wan watched him go. "This is really bad timing," he said to Master Yoda.

"Done all that I can. Up to Young Skywalker it is now," Master Yoda said.

"Speaking of who," Obi-Wan said as a shadow moved in the hanger. "You can come out of there Anakin!" he called.

Anakin moved out of the shadows and walked over to them. "I don't like this. We're being split up and fast," he said.

"Stick to the plan we will. Until come back I do, do nothing you will," Master Yoda ordered.

"Yes Master," Anakin said having no intention to sit back and do nothing.

"And now destroy the droid armies on Kashyyyk, I will. May the Force be with you," Master Yoda said.

"May the force be with you Master," Anakin and Obi-Wan said bowing.

Master Yoda left on bored the Republican gunship leaving the two other jedi alone.

Obi-Wan turned to Anakin. "You have no intentions of following orders do you?" he demanded.

"I will do what I must, Obi-Wan," Anakin told him.

"I was afraid of that," Obi-Wan said.

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Anakin returned home in time to see Padme and his mother getting ready for something He raised his eyebrow at them. "What are you planning?" he asked.

"We're going baby shopping," Padme told him.

"I'm told that it's loads of fun," Shmi said wrapping a shawl around herself.

"And you're going without an escort?" Anakin asked crossing his arms.

"Threepio is coming with us," Padme told him.

"Threepio can't hold off an attacker and I know that Captain Typho isn't going to be there because he informed me that he was taking off once he saw me coming in," Anakin told them.

"Would you like to come with us Ani?" Shmi asked sweetly.

Padme looked at him. "That's why you're giving us a hard time isn't it," she concluded.

"Jedi don't go shopping," Anakin told them.

"Then wear one of those disguises that you have," Padme told him.

"You're wearing one too,"Anakin told her.

"Hardly anyone will recognize me," Padme argued. Anakin raised an eyebrow. "Oh fine!" she said and walked back upstairs with Anakin making Shmi laugh quietly.

Twenty minutes later Anakin and Padme reemerged from the upstairs. Padme wore a pale white blond wig done up in a simple hairstyle. Anakin however had donned a dark wig and a fake beard as well as civilian clothing.

"I hardly recognize you two," Shmi said upon seeing them.

"That's the point," Anakin said taking his wife's arm and his mother's in his other. "Shall we go shopping then?" he said.

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"Oh I like this one," Padme said holding up a blue dress. "The color reminds me of the lakes on Naboo," she said.

"It is rather darling," Shmi said fingering the delicate dress. "You don't find things like this on Tatooine," she told her.

"Speaking of which, while we're here we should pick some stuff up for Sabrina and Sebastien. I'm sure that Owen and Beru would appreciate it," Padme suggested.

"Tatooine is too rough for anything in here," Anakin said speaking up from his spot across the clothes racks and where the cribs were. "For the half the price of one, I could carve two cribs," he commented.

"And where are you going to get the wood?" Padme asked seeing that as not an option.

"I could travel to the forest moon of Endor and bring some home. There are plenty of trees that I can chop down," Anakin told her.

"What about those Secret Skywalker Founds you've mentioned, Ani? You can't dip into that for two cribs?" Shmi asked.

"Those founds are for emergencies only. "I can make the twins their own cribs," Anakin said adamantly.

"You can make something else, I'm buying two cribs," Padme told him.

"You can do whatever you like with _your_ money," Anakin told her walking away from the cribs.

"So it's my money now? Funny I seem to remember you asking me for money so that you and Obi-Wan could pig out at Dex's Diner," Padme replied.

"We were hungry! And we had just come back from a very long and useless mission," Anakin told her in defense. "Besides Dex's doesn't sound like a bad idea right about now," he said.

Padme scrunched up her nose. "I'm not eating at Dex's," she told him.

"Dex has excellent food, besides he's a friend of mine," Anakin told her.

"If he's your friend, then why don't you get him to let you eat for free?" Padme asked.

Anakin opened up his mouth to reply and then closed it and frowned. "It doesn't work that way," he said.

"I don't see why not, jedi don't really get paid personally, everyone knows that," Padme argued.

"You're testing me," Anakin said thinking about what his wife was saying.

Padme only smiled. "So what if I am?" she asked.

"Don't pull your senator tricks on me, you know that I don't like politics," Anakin told her.

"But you married a politician," Shmi pointed out.

Again Anakin opened up his mouth to speak but closed it again. "Nice, I have my wife and my mother gaining up on me," he muttered sarcastically. "Are we almost done?" he asked.

Padme looked down at the baskets that she and Shmi were holding seeing them filled over the brim and not to mention the number pads in her hands that went with the furniture she was going to purchase. "I guess that we're done for now," she said.

"For now?" Anakin asked.

"Yes, for now. We still have a lot more shopping to do," Padme replied. "But we could do the rest at another time," she added upon seeing the pain expression on Anakin's face.

"Good," Anakin said taking the two baskets from Padme's and Shmi's hands. "Lets pay for this stuff," he finished.

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"I have an idea," Padme exclaimed when they returned home.

"No more shopping!" Anakin told her.

Padme waved a hand in dismissal. "Not that. I was thinking that since we have these disguises on, that we could go out to eat tonight," she said.

"You mean like a restaurant?" Shmi asked interested.

"Exactly that," Padme said.

"Good, I haven't seen Dex in weeks," Anakin said seriously.

"We're not going to Dex's Diner!" Padme told him.

"Why not? The sliders are the best in Coco Town," Anakin replied.

"All that greasy food can't be good for you anyway. We're going to Kristina's," Padme told him.

"I'm going to Dex's," Anakin told her.

"Oh stop it Anakin. I would like to go to this restaurant that Padme had suggested and I would like it if you joined us and snapped out of whatever mood that you seem to be in," Shmi said flatly.

"You do seem to be a little on edge, Ani," Padme told him.

"It's nothing," he told them. "If you want to eat at Kristina's then we should make reservations," he said changing the subject.

"Are you sure that you are alright, Ani?" Padme asked.

"I'm fine, honest," He told her giving her a smile.

"If you're sure then," Padme said. "I'll make those reservations," she said leaving the room.

When she was gone Shmi walked up to her son. "Tell me the truth, Anakin. What is going on?" she demanded.

"I'm just under a lot of stress, that's all," Anakin told her.

Shmi looked at him skeptically. "What kind of stress?" she asked.

"I really can't talk about it," Anakin said.

"If it's causing you this much stress then you _need_ to talk about it," Shmi told him.

"I could only get us a table within five minutes," Padme said coming back into the room.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Anakin said.

Padme paled. "You're going to race through the airways and break every traffic law in the book aren't you?" she asked.

"How else will we make it in five minutes?" Anakin asked. Padme and Shmi both groaned.

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Four minutes later Shmi and Padme got out of the air speeder a bit winded while Anakin remained unaffected. Padme covered her mouth and ran into the restaurant leaving a concerned Shmi and Anakin.

"Oh dear," Shmi said concerned.

"Maybe you should see if she's okay," Anakin suggested knowing that he was forbidden from entering a female refresher.

"I think that that's a good idea," Shmi said going into the restaurant.

Anakin followed, stopping at the host droid standing at the door. "Three for Naberrie," he said.

The droid checked the list of reservation. "You're table is ready, would you like to be seated now or wait for the rest of your party to show up?" the droid replied.

"I can be seated now," Anakin said seeing Padme and his mother approaching him. He linked arms with both women and turned to his wife. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm fine, Ani. But please pilot the speeder like a normal person when we go back home," Padme replied.

"I'm sorry," Anakin told her.

They were seated at a table in the back in a secluded spot. Shmi looked around and smiled. "This is a nice looking place," she said.

"It's my favorite place to eat on Coruscant," Padme told her.

"I still like Dex's," Anakin told them.

Padme waved her hand at him. "That's because you have no taste," she told him.

"But you married me anyway," Anakin told her giving her a cheeky grin.

"I married you for you body and that alone," Padme told him.

"Really? Then I should continue working out," he replied.

"I don't know what to order," Shmi said looking at the menu and interrupting them. She really didn't want to hear where that conversation was going to go. "There's so much on here it's overwhelming," she finished.

"Just get what you think sounds best," Anakin told her putting down his menu. "I'm ready to order," he said.

"Me too," Padme said putting down her menu.

"I see something now," Shmi added setting her menu down.

"Good," Anakin said signaling to the waiter droid who came over to greet them.

"Are you ready to order?" the droid asked them.

Anakin opened up his mouth but Padme beat him to the punch. "I'll have an order of jerked bantha meat, an order of almond-kwevvu crisp-munchies, an order of para-rolls, an order of citros snow cake, an order of air cake, and an aquilie water," she said.

Anakin gaped at her and the droid turned to him. "And you sir?" the droid asked.

"I'll just have an order of bantha steak and some bribb juice," Anakin said.

When the droid turned to Shmi she gave her order, "I'll have some alderaanian stew and some kopi tea," she said.

The droid took their menus. "I'll come back with your orders in just a few," he said turning and wheeling away.

"From the sound of it, you're about ready to eat everything on the menu," Anakin said to his wife.

Padme rubbed her stomach. "We're hungry," she told him.

"Eating large meals is normal for pregnant women, Ani," Shmi told him.

"I guess so," Anakin replied.

Some time later their food was served to them, with Padme's needing a second table. A silence fell over the table as they ate. Padme hungrily digging into her food while Anakin dug into his bantha steak like a normal man and Shmi ate her stew much more dignified than her two companions. Eventually Shmi announced that she was going into the refresher and excused herself from the table leaving Anakin and Padme alone at the table. Anakin had finished his meal and waited for Padme to finish hers.

Finally when Padme had eaten her last bite Anakin raised en eyebrow at her. "Do you want to order some more?" he asked.

"No. I'm good for now," Padme replied.

"Are you sure?" Anakin asked.

"Very," Padme told him. "I think that I'll take a trip to the refresher too," she said standing up.

"I'll be waiting right here," Anakin told her. When sh was gone too, Anakin drummed his fingers and thought about the jedi's latest troubles. How could he have not seen the sith plans coming? How could he not ask Master Yoda in the future what had happened? He was so deep in his thoughts that he barely noticed his danger senses kicking in and then he spotted Padme walking towards the table with a worried look on her face.

"Did you mother come back to the table at all?" Padme asked.

"No, why?" Anakin replied getting worried.

"Because she's not in the refresher," Padme told him.

Anakin stood up fast and rushed over to the female refresher and barged in. Females of all species screamed at him, but he could not sense his mother. Without apologizing Anakin rushed out side just in time to see an armored speeder speed off into the air. He ran over to the landing pad and jumped into Padme's speeder and raced after the armored speeder at a breakneck speed. He didn't know how far into the city he raced into or how many other pilots yelled and shook their fists at him as he cut them off or made them swerve to miss him. All that concerned him was getting his mother back. His danger senses screamed at him just before a droid reached out in the speeder and fired at his engines starting a fire. Instinctively he reached for his belt and cursed his disguise for having no tracking devices just before his speeder plummeted. Before the speeder could collide with a building, he jumped out of the speeder and grabbed a hold of a railing and watched the armored speeder disappear.

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Obi-Wan rushed into the Skywalker apartment to see an agitated Anakin pacing and climbing the walls. "I just received your message," he said out of breath. He had heard that Shmi had been taken just as every other jedi in the temple.

"I should have known better that to bring her out of here," Anakin told him. "I shouldn't have taken her around Coruscant," Anakin told him.

"Anakin, every jedi on Coruscant is looking for her. All of the space ports have been alerted. We have done everything we can and more. We _will_ get her back," Obi-Wan told him.

"I will never forgive myself if something happens to her again," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan didn't say anything. What could he say? He couldn't relate to his friends so he had no idea how to calm him down . Finally coming to a decision, he placed both hands on Anakin's shoulders and forced him to stop pacing. "Take a deep breath and calm down. You won't help matters if you're wound up," he said.

Anakin did as he was told and took a deep breath. "What do you suggest that I do, Master?" he asked.

Before Obi-Wan could give some advice Anakin's comlink went off. Anakin quickly answered it. "Skywalker," he said authoritatively.

The last voice Anakin expected to hear come out of the comlink was Chancellor Palpatine's. "Good, Anakin, I'm glad that I could reach you. Could you possibly meet me at the opera house? I have some news for you," the chancellor requested.

Obi-Wan nodded at him. "Go, I'll head the search for Shmi," he whispered.

Anakin was going to refuse, but he had a duty to preform. If he didn't go, then he wouldn't know what it was that Palpatine wanted. He didn't care at this moment, because his mother was more important. But Obi-Wan was the best with spy intelligence. If anyone could find his mother it would be Obi-Wan. Finally he spoke. "I'll be there Chancellor," he said shutting off his comlink. "Find her, Obi-Wan," he urged.

"Don't worry, Anakin. I doubt that she is off this planet. All space travel is halted. And the star ships hovering over Coruscant haven't noticed any ships leaving the surface," Obi-Wan assured him.

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Anakin landed his speeder and exited. He ran up the stairs at the Galaxies Opera House and through the hallways not bothering to apologize to the beings he had to skirt around. He didn't stop running until he reached Palpatine's box, where the chancellor was sitting with Mas Amedda and Sly-Moore, watching the Man Calamari Ballet doing "Squid Lake."

"You wanted to see me, Chancellor," Anakin said making his presence known. He masked his worry for his mother and his distrust of the chancellor.

"Yes, Anakin! Come closer. I have good news. Our Clone Intelligence Units have discovered the location of General Grievous. He is hiding in the Utapau system," Palpatine said sounding happy to bring the news to the jedi.

"At last, we'll be able to capture that monster and end this war," Anakin replied.

"I would worry about the collective wisdom of the Council if they didn't select you for this assignment. You are the best choice by far … but, they can't always be trusted to do the right thing," Palpatine said.

"They try," Anakin said in defense.

"Sit down," Palpatine said to Anakin and then turned to his aids, "Leave us." Mas Amedda and Sly-Moore stand up and leave the box leaving Anakin and the chancellor alone. Anakin sat next to Palpatine. The Chancellor leaned over to him.

"Anakin, you know I'm not able to rely on the Jedi Council. If they haven't included you in their plot, they soon will," Palpatine told him.

"I'm not sure I understand," Anakin told him.

"You must sense what I have come to suspect . . . the Jedi Council want control of the Republic . . . they're planning to betray me," Palpatine said to him.

"I don't think . . ." Anakin began but the chancellor interrupted him.

"Anakin, search your feelings. You know, don't you?" Palpatine asked.

"I know they don't trust you . . ." Anakin said feeling that he should say something even if it spoke against the jedi. After all this was only a game that he had to play.

"Or the Senate . . . or the Republic . . . or democracy for that matter," Palpatine continued.

"I have to admit my trust in them has been shaken," Anakin told him continuing his game.

"Why? They asked you to do something that made you feel dishonest, didn't they?" Palpatine asked.

Anakin didn't say anything. He simply looked down. He would let the chancellor come up with his own conclusions and play along.

"They asked you to spy on me, didn't they?" Palpatine asked.

"I don't know ... I don't know what to say," Anakin said hiding the fact that he was the one to start spying on him, that the council didn't ask for him o do it.

"Remember back to your early teachings. Anakin. "All those who gain power are afraid to lose it." Even the Jedi," Palpatine told him.

"The Jedi use their power for good," Anakin told him. He didn't like what Palpatine was insinuating.

"Good is a point of view, Anakin. And the Jedi point of view is not the only valid one. The Dark Lords of the Sith believe in security and justice also, yet they are considered by the Jedi to be. . ." Palpatine told him.

". . . evil," Anakin finished.

" . . . from a Jedi's point of view. The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power. The difference between the two is the Sith are not afraid of the dark side of the Force. That is why they are more powerful," Palpatine continued.

"The Sith rely on their passion for their strength. They think inward, only about themselves," Anakin told him.

"And the Jedi don't?" Palpatine questioned.

"The Jedi are selfless . . . they only care about others," Anakin defended.

Palpatine smiled. "Or so you've been trained to believe. Why is it, then, that they have asked you to do something you feel is wrong?" He said.

"I'm not sure it's wrong," Anakin challenged.

"Have they asked you to betray the Jedi code? The Constitution? A friendship? Your own values? Think. Consider their motives. Keep your mind clear of assumptions. The fear of losing power is a weakness of both the Jedi and the Sith," Palpatine told him.

Anakin didn't say anything. He just waited for Palpatine to continue.

"Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis "the wise"?" Palpatine asked.

"No," Anakin said quickly. He looked over at the chancellor wondering if he was speaking about _his_ master.

"I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life ... He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying," Palpatine told him.

Anakin thought about his reoccurring dream and about his mother's present danger. "He could actually save people from death?" he questioned skeptically.

"The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural," Palpatine told him watching the ballet.

"What happened to him?" Anakin questioned.

"He became so powerful . . . the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep," Palpatine smiled, "Plagueis never saw it coming. It's ironic he could save others from death, but not himself," he said.

Anakin knew what Palpatine wanted to hear so he asked looking at the sith, "Is it possible to learn this power?"

"Not from a Jedi," Palpatine told him.


	48. Fear

A/N: And so it continues. I hope that you all like this chapter.

Charlie.

* * *

To say that Shmi was frightened would be an understatement. She hadn't expected to be taken from the restaurant by a strangely dressed woman at blaster point. She knew nothing of where she had been taken. Oh how she wanted Anakin. Anakin would make things okay. Now as she was dragged through an industrial looking building and she heard several mechanical sounds, reminding her of her nightmare months before. Her captors weren't exactly friendly. They had repeatedly shoved her down because she wasn't walking fast enough or hit her for falling down. Now she was strapped down to a metal table where they were going to do force knows what to her. When she saw a needle coming towards her, one that had to have been at least twelve inches long. She was beginning to panic. What were they going to do with her? She twisted on the table, frantically trying to loosen the restraints keeping her in place.

Someone's hands touched the sides of her head. "What is it like to be the mother of the Son of Suns?" a sinister voice asked. "We have great plans for him. Great plans indeed," the voice said darkly.

Shmi wanted to scream when the needle disappeared and she felt it inside of her. What were they doing to her? _Anakin help me!!!!!_

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Darth Sidious waited patiently for the dark jedi Asajj Ventress. He had great plans for her. Great plans indeed. When the doors opened to his chamber and Ventress entered he turned to her. "Is it done?" he asked.

"It is done my lord," Ventress said kneeling at his feet.

"Ventress, rise," Sidious ordered.

"Yes my master," Ventress obeyed.

Sidious smiled sinisterly. "My master taught me everything that he knew. His teaching shall be passed down through future generations even after I am gone," he said extending his hand towards Ventress's midsection. His fingers did a little dance making the dark jedi's mid section glow a little before he was finished. "Soon the jedi will be no more and the sith shall rule the galaxy once again," he declared.

"I look forward to it," Ventress said and smiled.

"And the woman? The mother of Suns?" Ventress asked.

"Kill her," Sidious ordered.

"It will be done my master," Ventress vowed. She turned to leave but Sidious called out to her.

"And do be careful. We cannot afford to loose you," Sidious ordered.

Asajj Ventress said nothing more. She just took out her lightsabers and prepared for the kill.

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Baxter adjusted the covering on his head and waited. If he wasn't out on the streets of Coruscant, he wouldn't have seen a speeder which was obvious to him that Anakin was piloting stop at a restaurant. He recognized Anakin Skywalker even in his disguise. What bugged Baxter was the question on _why_ Anakin was disguised and escorting a woman and his mother to a restaurant. He fully intended to ambush his friend and demand answers after he was done eating when he noticed Asajj Ventress enter through the staff entrance. Being the spy expert that he was, he was able to disguise himself as one of her minions making sure to hide himself in the force. Anakin Skywalker _owed_ him now.

He waited for the cost to clear before going into the room where Shmi lay unconscious. He waved a hand in front of her face. Shmi Skywalker woke up gasping for breath and Baxter quickly covered her mouth. "Hey there Mrs. S," he said tilting his head covering, allowing her to see his eyes. "Lets get you out of here before Ventress kills you," he told her.

"Where's Anakin?" Shmi asked fearfully once he removed his hand.

"Ah, he's a little tied up right now. No time for talking," he told her and handed her a blaster. "Just aim and shoot when you see someone coming," he instructed.

"I don't want this," Shmi protested shoving the blaster back into his hands.

"You're taking it," Baxter told her firmly giving it back to her. "Now lets move!" he snapped pulling her to her feet.

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Asajj Ventress pushed open the doors to where she left the Skywalker woman only to find the room empty. "Where is she?!" she snapped. She turned on her heal and grabbed one of the guards by the collar and shoved him against the wall. "Who took the woman?!" she demanded.

"One of our men. I assumed that you ordered her transfer," the guard answered.

Ventress seethed. Incompetence was not something that she tolerated. For punishment she jabbed one of her lightsabers through the guard's chest, killing him in an instant. She turned on her heal and went in search for the missing woman. She couldn't have gotten very far and by the looks of it, she had a jedi protecting her. Ventress smiled as she had the opportunity for two kills today. Two very important kills.

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"How much further do we have to go?" Shmi asked as she ran through the halls with the jedi.

"We just have to get to the roof. You know every jedi in the temple is looking for you. My master is waiting for us with transport on the roof," Baxter told her.

"Do you know who the woman that kidnapped me is?" Shmi asked as she followed Baxter.

"Yeah. Her name is Asajj Ventress. There's a grudge match between her and Anakin. She considers Anakin as her biggest advisory. She's a dark jedi. Anakin is _not_ going to be happy when he finds out that _she_ was the one who took you," Baxter answered.

"Anakin said that he had made enemies," Shmi commented as Baxter took out his lightsaber. The emerald blade glowed in the darkness. She froze as he blocked a red blade.

"Asajj, nice to see you!" Baxter said blocking another blade.

"And where do you think that you're going, jedi?" Ventress demanded.

Baxter grinned at her as he felt his master above them. "Back to the temple and I'm taking Shmi Skywalker with me!" he told her just as hole in the ceiling was cut and Lexus Jhon came through.

Ventress turned at the new comer. "This must be my lucky day!" she said now attacking both jedi.

As Shmi watched the two jedi take on this woman from two different angles, she noticed more guards coming from other directions. The blaster that Baxter had handed her was still concealed in her skirts. She really didn't want to hurt the jedi but she had to help them. She took out the blaster feeling something guide her in her aim and shot Ventress in the back.

Asajj Ventress seethed as she fell to the ground. He lightsabers clattered to the floor beside her.

Lexus Jhon grabbed Shmi's arm. "Hold onto me, Milady," her ordered.

Shmi nodded and wrapped her arms around the jedi's midsection. Lexus and Baxter took out grappling hooks, swung them, caught them on a high beam and pulled themselves up helping Shmi escape.

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Anakin ran through the jedi temple. Minga had commed him earlier telling him that Baxter had found his mother. But she had been through an ordeal. That much Minga had told him. He ignored all the stares of his fellow jedi. Most of them stared it him with disapproval, each on the side of the code. Others stared at him with sympathy. Anakin paid them no attention. He had much bigger problems than dealing with his fellow jedi.

He didn't stop running until he reached the doors to the medical bay. He used the force to open the doors and rushed inside.

"Anakin!"

Anakin wrapped his arms around his trembling mother. What had they done to her? "Are you alright?" he asked.

"She will be. Aside from the emotional trauma, I can't find anything to suggest that they did anything to her," Minga told him.

"What did they do to you?" Anakin asked looking at his mother.

Shmi shook her head. "I don't know. All I remember was being stuck with some kind of needle. They tied me down to a table and I don't know what they had done to me. When that woman caught me at the restaurant and ordered that I had to come with her I wanted to scream, to cry out to you, but she told me that she would not only kill me but she would kill you. I had no choice but to do as she said," she told him, tears forming in her eyes and rolling down her face.

Anakin pulled her closer and let her cry it out. He vowed to find whoever it was that had taken her and bring them to justice. "Where's Baxter?" he asked.

"I'm right here," Baxter said coming back into the medical bay. "I had to brief the council on what had happened," he told them. He looked at Anakin pointedly. "May I speak with you alone, Anakin?" he asked.

Anakin looked over at his mother. "I'll be right back," he told her stepping away from her and walking over to Baxter. He had an uneasy feeling from the look in his friends eyes. "What is it?" he asked when he and Baxter were alone in the next room.

"What were you doing at that restaurant? I saw you Anakin, what are you hiding?" Baxter asked.

Anakin hid his panic upon being put on the spot by this question. "I was escorting a friend who wanted to show my mother out on the town. We disguised ourselves so not to arouse much attention," he answered him conveniently leaving out many details.

Baxter looked at him, not entirely sure that he believed him, like he suspected more but he was satiated for the moment. "Well it appears that your disguises didn't work very well," he said.

Anakin folded his arms over his chest. "I am aware of that," he said. "How did you find her?" he asked.

"After I saw you go into that restaurant, I hid, ready to ambush you on the way out. That's when I saw Asajj Ventress enter through the service entrance," Baxter told him.

At the mention of the dark jedi's name Anakin grew agitated. "Please don't tell me that she got away without being questioned," he said edgily.

"We had to leave pretty quick, Anakin. After Shmi shot her in the back with a blaster, more of her minions started coming out of nowhere," Baxter told him.

Anakin gritted his teeth and walked away from his friend. He refused to let his anger return. He took a deep breath using the technique that Master Yoda had drilled into him to calm himself. "And you have no idea what she was planning?" he questioned.

"All I saw them do was examine Shmi before Asajj left the room. When she returned she had every intention to kill her. I have no idea what they were planning, I'm sorry," Baxter told them.

"Some how I knew that something would happen to her," Anakin said turning to his friend. "I look forward to seeing Asajj Ventress again," he told him but didn't elaborate on it.

Baxter didn't ask. He didn't want to know. He just watched as his friend went back into the room where Minga and his mother were.

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Siri stood across the hall from the doors that lead to the crèche. She was forbidden to step foot in there by the council. But all she wanted was one little peek. All she wanted was to see him. She couldn't understand why they would deny her of it. After all, all mothers got to see their children when they were born. She wasn't given that luxury. She retreated back, pulling her cloak more firmly around her, hiding herself in one of the shadows as the crèche master, Donna Mortee exited and walked down the hall. Siri watched her go and when no one else showed up, she moved across the hall.

"Siri?"

Siri froze in front of the doors realizing that she was caught. She jumped when a hand fell gently on her shoulder and turned to face Obi-Wan. "I just want to see him," she told him silently pleading with him.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Lets make this quick then," he told her.

Siri was surprised. Obi-Wan never went against the council. Not since he was a young padawan. "Wouldn't we both get into trouble with the council?" she questioned.

Obi-Wan smiled. "Despite what you might think, I often find myself going against the council, more than most lately," he told her ushering her inside the crèche.

"Then you must be some actor," Siri pointed out.

"With Anakin Skywalker as an apprentice I learned the trade quickly," Obi-Wan told her.

Siri huffed. "I'll bet," she said.

Obi-Wan smiled at her. "Now _there's_ a hint of the Siri that I knew," he said.

Siri stepped away from him. "People change, Obi-Wan," she told him.

The smile disappeared from Obi-Wan's face. "I know," he said. "He's right over there," he told her pointing to a bassinet by the window.

Siri walked over to the bassinet and stared at the sleeping baby inside. His features were that of a falleen baby, but he was paler than the normal falleen. His skin had a white green color to it. She didn't know what she had expected. She didn't know how she felt upon looking at him.

"His name is Xander Zing," Obi-Wan told her standing behind her.

"I don't know how to feel," Siri confessed.

"Obviously you care about him to some degree. You wanted to see him," Obi-Wan told her.

"But now that I have seen him, I don't know how to feel. I mean, mothers are supposed to _feel_ something profound, but I don't know what that is," Siri said.

"It is understandable that you feel this way. You grew up as a jedi, as jedi we know very little about this area," Obi-Wan told her.

"And he will know nothing but the life of a jedi," Siri said.

"He could have a far worse fate," Obi-Wan told her.

Siri looked at him then. "If he was not chosen to be a jedi then what?" she asked.

"I don't know. I choose not to dwell on that fact. You shouldn't either," Obi-Wan told her.

Siri bent down and picked Xander up to cradle him in her arms. Upon sensing who she was, he opened up his eyes to look at her. She gasped at seeing her own eyes staring at her, not falleen eyes. He reached up a small hand towards her and she gently took it.

Obi-Wan placed a hand on her shoulder gently. "I hate to tear this moment away from you, but we must leave before we are discovered," he said.

Siri nodded before placing Xander back into the bassinet. She allowed Obi-Wan to lead her out and away from the crèche. Only after they had parted and she had returned to her quarters did she let a tear roll down her cheek.

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Padme calmly walked up the marble steps of the jedi temple. Since she had been granted the position of being the one person who would handle the relations between the delegation and the jedi she had been given special privileges concerning entering the temple to meet with the jedi.. Each member of the Delegation of 2000 valued the jedi order. But Padme was not at all concerned with her work in the delegation at this moment in time as she slowly walked up the steps into the jedi temple. Something of which was rare for any none jedi to do. Her concern was for Shmi Skywalker. Threepio had informed her once she had gotten home that Anakin had run to the temple due to receiving an urgent message notifying him that Shmi had been found and was now recuperating from her ordeal at the temple. Padme had every right to come here and ask about Shmi. She was the only none jedi who knew that she was alive and on Coruscant, opposed from her other son, Owen, who resided humbly on Tatooine. But as far as the jedi knew, she was only a good samaritan being a good friend of the jedi by offering her home for Shmi.

When she had finally reached the top of the steps, she took a breath. Being seven and a half months pregnant made climbing those steps more difficult. But so far only her handmaidens, Captain Typho, Shmi and Anakin knew. She pressed a hand softly against her abdomen. It had to be kept secret. For their sake, it had to be kept secret. She would protect them with her life. _Anakin_ would protect them with everything that he had.

Her thoughts drifted to her husband. Anakin had changed greatly over the past two years. At first she didn't know what to make of it. But she worried about him. He wouldn't admit it, but he was under tremendous stress. He especially hasn't admitted to having nightmares every night. He wont tell her that he was having any. He just pretends like they don't happen. That in itself was what worried her. Anakin had never had any problems sharing with her anything before. Why was he holding back now? What was he afraid to tell her? Padme knew better than to believe that everything was okay. Anakin had become edgy of late. He was keeping things bottled up inside. And the consequences of what he was doing scared her.

She squared her shoulders and put up her political mask, hiding her concerns, her fears, and everything else. Taking another deep breath, she walked inside the jedi temple.

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Anakin sat in the high council chambers along with the various council members, most of which were sitting in on this session via holographic communication. He suppressed the unease that he felt by being here. He knew that no matter what he said here, it would not be taken seriously. The council didn't trust him. How he got here in the first place granted him no favors. He chanced a look to his left and at Obi-Wan. His master had simply advised him to follow his lead. No matter what. "Chancellor Palpatine thinks General Grievous is on Utapau," he announced looking around the room trying to pick up on the other jedi's reactions.

"We have had no reports of this from our agents," Ki-Adi-Mundi said.

"How could the Chancellor have come by this information and we know nothing about it? We have had contact with Baron Papanoida and he said no one was there," Mace asked throwing Anakin a suspicious look.

Anakin met Mace's gaze calmly. He refused to show how uneasy he was. "He said that a partial message was intercepted in a diplomatic packet from the Chairman of Utapau," he told them. He could not utter his personal thoughts on record so he kept them to himself.

"Act on this, we must. The capture of General Grievous will end this war. Quickly and decisively we should proceed," Master Yoda announced.

"Does everyone agree?" Obi-Wan asked. All the jedi concurred.

Anakin didn't want to bring this up, but he had no choice. The Chancellor would surely see the recording of this meeting. "The Chancellor has requested that I lead the campaign," he informed them uneasily. Everyone looked at Anakin a little bit disturbed which only added to his uneasiness.

"The Council will make up its own mind who is to go, not the Chancellor," Mace said a little peeved.

"Yes, this decision is ours to make," Ki-Adi-Mundi concurred.

"A Master is needed, with more experience," Master Yoda said.

"Given our resources, I recommend we send only one Jedi . . . Master Kenobi," Mace said.

Anakin couldn't help himself and spoke up anyway. He did not want Obi-Wan to go alone. Especially now. "He was not so successful the last time he met Grievous," he said.

Obi-Wan threw Anakin a dirty look.

Anakin continued looking at his master. "No offense, my Master, but I'm only stating a fact," he said.

"Oh no, you're quite right, but I do have the most experience with his ways of combat," Obi-Wan replied calmly.

"Obi-Wan, my choice is," Master Yoda said. Anakin threw him a dirty look.

"I concur. Master Kenobi should go," Ki-Adi-Mundi said.

The rest of the jedi concurred.

"Very well. Council is adjourned," Mace said and then turned to Obi-Wan. "Obi-Wan, prepare two clone brigades and one Republican Army brigade as quickly as you can. If this report is true, there's no telling how many battle droids he may have with him," he said.

Obi-Wan nodded. "I will see to it immediately," he said.

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Padme let her political mask drop once she reached the medical bay and saw Shmi. Her mother in law was standing by the window staring out of it. Her body language said that she was still shaken and troubled by her ordeal. "Shmi?" she asked concerned.

Shmi turned to look at her and when Padme saw the fear in her eyes, she quickly went to her side and hugged her. "Everything will be okay. Nothing will happen to you again, we all will make sure of that," she murmured.

Shmi trembled. "Ani said that he had made enemies. I had prayed that he was wrong," Shmi said shakily. "His enemies are terrible," she said fearfully. That fear was not only for herself, but for her son and their family.

"What did they do to you?" Padme asked fearfully.

At that Shmi broke down crying.

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Anakin escorted Obi-Wan onto a landing platform overlooking a docking bay where thousands of clones and Republican army officials loaded armored weapons, tanks, etc., onto a massive Republic assault ship..

"You're going to need me on this one, Master," Anakin told him.

"Oh, I agree. However it may turn out just to be a wild bantha chase," Obi-Wan replied.

"It could be a trap," Anakin told him pointedly.

Obi-Wan smirked. "Then I'll spring the trap," he told him.

Anakin did not smile as Obi-Wan intended for him to do. "Something is troubling you," he observed.

"There are a lot of things troubling me," Anakin told him.

"Such as?" Obi-Wan questioned.

Anakin let out a breath. "This war, the sith, the future, my mother, the twins... you name it," he said.

Obi-Wan placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Have faith in the force, everything will turn out fine," he assured him.

"Sometimes I think the force has other plans," Anakin told him. "Master, I am afraid of what is to come, of the prophecy," he confessed.

Obi-Wan seemed thoughtful for a moment. "An ancient prophecy that has been translated several hundred different times. It is uncertain now what it may truly mean," he said.

"That is what I am afraid of," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan turned to him. "Remember what Master Yoda said. Release your fear and listen closely to what the force is telling you. Only then will you gain enough inner peace that you would need to destroy this sith lord," he told him. He sighed. "I must go now," he said placing a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Stay out of trouble, please. Don't do anything rash," he pleaded.

"I will try not to," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan nodded and turned to leave.

As Anakin watched him walk away, he suddenly had a sinking feeling that this would be the last time that they saw each other. "Master!" he called out.

Obi-Wan turned to him and he walked up to him. "Master, I must apologize for my past behavior. I wasn't very appreciative of your training . . . I have been arrogant and I apologize . . . I see now the errors of my ways. Your friendship means everything to me. I truly do not know how you have put up with me," he said.

"You are strong and wise, Anakin, and I am very proud of you. I have trained you since you were a small boy. I have taught you everything I know. And you have become a far greater Jedi than I could ever hope to be, and you have saved my life more times than I can remember. I have never once regretted taking you on as my padawan," Obi-Wan told him. He turned and walked down the ramp into the hanger before stopping and turning back to his friend. "Don't worry. I have a large enough army with me to take three systems the size of Utapau. I think I'll be able to handle the situation . . . even without your help," he assured him.

"Well, there's always a first time," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan laughed. "Goodbye old friend," he said before walking further into the hanger.

Anakin watched him go, more certain now than ever that this would be the last time that they would see each other.

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The Chancellor's Transport raced through the city and headed for the Senate Office Building landing platform. Waiting on the landing platform was a lone jedi. The Transport landed, and Chancellor Palpatine emerged with four royal guards and Mas Amedda. The four royal guards moved off in another direction as Palpatine greeted Anakin, who had been waiting for him.

"Well, Anakin, did you see your friend off?" Palpatine asked.

"He will soon have Grievous's head," Anakin told him adamantly.

"We can only hope the council didn't make a mistake," Palpatine said gravely.

"The Council was very sure in its decision," Anakin told him.

They exited the landing platform and entered the main hallway of the Senate Office Building. They pass several senators, including Representative Jar Jar Binks from Naboo.

"Helloo Ani. Good en to see yousa . . ." The Gungan called waving to Anakin.

"Hi, Jar Jar," Anakin replied with a smile.

"Oopsin da Chancellor!! So sorry, Your Highness, sir!" Jar Jar said upon seeing Palpatine.

Anakin turned back to the Chancellor.

"There are rumors in the Senate about Master Kenobi. Many believe he is not fit for this assignment," Palpatine told him.

"Not fit? Why would anyone think that?" Anakin demanded.

"They say his mind has become fogged by the influence of a certain female Senator," Palpatine told him.

"That's ridiculous. Who?!?" Anakin replied knowing that this was just one more web of lies. He knew that Obi-Wan only had eyes for Siri.

"No one knows who she is ... only that she is a Senator," Palpatine told him slyly.

"That's impossible. I would know," Anakin told him adamantly.

"Sometimes the closest are the ones who cannot see," Palpatine told him.

Anakin looked away. There was _some_ truth to that. After all he had once believed that he was close to the chancellor.

"Idle Senate gossip is rarely true and never accurate. I'm sure your Master will do fine," Palpatine said assuringly.

Anakin didn't reply. He just looked at the chancellor unable to read him. Which was something that disturbed him.


	49. Destiny

A/N: And it is getting closer to the end. Two more chapters left and an epilogue. Wow! I know that you wont be liking the ending of this chapter, but oh well! Anyways, I just started my spring term for collge, so I'll be really really busy. Pluse I have three other stories to keep up with. I promise, that I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can.

Charlie.

* * *

"_ANAKIN!!!" Shmi screamed frantically. "ANAKIN!!!!!!!!"_

_A dozen hands grabbed at the frantic woman trying to keep her still but she pulled and scrambled away from them. "ANAKIN!!!!!!" she screamed._

_The vision changed to that of Padme laying on a table screaming in agony also crying out for Anakin. She was in pain and there was nothing that he could do to help her. He tried to reach out for her but he was suddenly pulled away from her._

Anakin snapped his eyes open and took a deep ragged breath. Next to him Padme remained sound asleep. He dreaded what his vision could have meant. He dreaded the fact that the future was inevitable. Turning on his side, he faced his sleeping wife. Padme slept in the only comfortable position that she could sleep in due to the pregnancy. He didn't like the fact that she was uncomfortable most of the time and he often blamed himself for this. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be in this condition. But that was irrational thinking. Gingerly he placed his left hand over her bulging stomach.

"I promise you, the galaxy that you'll grow up in will be a better one," she said to his unborn children.

Gently he felt two little bumps beneath his hand and he smiled as Luke and Leia made contact with him.

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Obi-Wan landed his ship on a platform projecting out of the side of a giant sinkhole. All was quiet. A little two quiet. A local administrator, Tion Medon, came out to greet the ship. Obi-Wan climbed out of his fighter as a short ground crew looked over his ship. On a ledge above the landing platform, Greivous's bodyguards watched as Obi-Wan talked to Tion Medon.

"Greetings, young Jedi. What brings you to our remote sanctuary?" Tion Medon

"Unfortunately, the war," Obi-Wan told him.

"There is no war here unless you've brought it with you," Tion Medon told him.

"With your kind permission, I should like some fuel and to use your city as a base as I search nearby systems for General Grievous," Obi-Wan requested. A ground crew rushed out and refueled Obi-Wan's fighter.

Tion Medon leaned closer to Obi-Wan and spoke quietly. "He is here! We are being held hostage. They are watching us."

"I understand," Obi-Wan said.

"The tenth level . . . thousands of Battle Droids . . ." Tion Medon whispered.

"Tell your people to take shelter. If you have warriors, now is the time," Obi-Wan told him and started back toward his starfighter as Tion Medon left the landing platform. Grievous's bodyguards retreated from the overhead platform. Obi-Wan climbed back into his starfighter. His Astrounit turned to him.

"Geenine, take the Fighter back to the ship. I'm staying here. Tell Captain Angelos that I've made contact," Obi-Wan ordered the astrodroid. The little astrodroid beeped a reply.

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On a high balcony, Tion Medon looked down on the landing platform. A few steps behind him stood one of General Grievous's bodyguards. They watched the canopy lower.

"I told you, all he wanted was fuel," Tion Medon said

"What was his name?" the bodyguard demanded.

"He didn't say," Tion Medon answered truthfully. They watch as the red starfighter took off.

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Obi-Wan also watched his ship take off as he hid in the hallway. He quietly moved farther into the city. He quickly rushed up a stairway cut into the side of the sinkhole. It was hard to see him. In an alcove, he carefully surveyed the city, then quickly moved on.

He made his way through the city, looking up at the tenth level with electro-binoculars from his utility belt. He tried to figure out how he was going to get up there before he heard strange bellowing cries and he investigated coming across a corral filled with about half a dozen dragon like lizards. Several wranglers were standing around. Obi-Wan walked up to the wranglers and used the force with a slight hand movements.

"I need transportation," Obi-Wan said.

"You need transportation," The wrangler repeated.

"Get it for me," Obi-Wan ordered.

"I will get it for you," the wrangler said.

One of the wranglers turned to the others and chattered away in his strange tongue. Obi-Wan walked along the line of lizards, checking out each one. He looked at their teeth, legs, etc. Finally he patted one on the neck. "This one," he decided.

The wrangler brought the chosen one over to him. "Boga. She answers to Boga," he said

"Good girl, Boga," Obi-Wan said swinging onto the back of the lizard. The beast reared up and scurried outside to the edge of the sinkhole.

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Anakin walked into his mother's room with a tray in his hands bearing a plate of food and a glass of juice. Shmi Skywalker laid on her bed staring out the window. "Mom?" Anakin said walking further into the room. Shmi looked at him briefly before turning away.

Anakin set the tray down on the bedside table. "Mom, you need to eat something," he told her. Shmi didn't say anything, she kept staring out the window.

Anakin didn't know what to do. He had never known his mother to break down this way. Even when they were both slaves. She had always been strong. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Please say something," he begged.

"How many are out there?" Shmi questioned.

"How many of what?" Anakin asked.

"How many enemies do you have?" Shmi asked him.

Anakin didn't say anything, he looked over to where his mother was staring, seeing the sky line of Coruscant. "I'm not sure," he said. "I never kept count," he confessed.

"How do you live this way?" She asked him. "How can you live knowing that at any time someone would try to kill you?" she asked.

"I'm used to it," Anakin told her simply. "The life of a jedi is a dangerous one," he then smiled bitterly. "But I'm a special case I suppose. I'm supposed to be the chosen one of some ancient jedi prophecy, the one who is said to destroy the sith and bring balance to the force, how ever that goes. That alone makes me a target," he answered. "It's what has Darth Sidious coveting for my soul," He told her.

"I don't know how to feel about that," Shmi told him.

"I didn't choose this life, the force chose it for me. Sometimes we have to trust that the force knows what it's doing," Anakin told her. He was thoughtful for moment. "I can't promise that nothing will ever happen to me. I can't promise that Someone else will come out of the woodworks claiming to be my enemy and wants to destroy me in any way shape or form," he told her.

"I want to go home, Ani. I don't want to be here anymore," Shmi told him.

Anakin looked at her sharply. "You're scared. It's safer here amongst the jedi rather on Tatooine amongst the Hutts and the Tuskans," he told her.

Shmi looked at him. "Why are you so afraid of my going back to Tatooine?" she asked.

"Because if you return to Tatooine, you'll die again," Anakin told her.

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The lizard Boga reared up on her hind legs again, then climbed the wall of the sheer cliff and started moving up toward the tenth level. The city appeared to be deserted. Obi-Wan was alert to any movement. He reached out with his senses and figured out where Grievous was.

General Grievous stood before the council of separatists, including Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, Pooggle The Lesser, Shu Mai, San Hill Po Nudo, Wat Tambor, and Passel Argente. Obi-Wan hid above the assembly and watched intently.

"It won't be long before the armies of the Republic track us here. I am sending you to the Mustafar system in the Outer Rim. It is a volcanic planet which generates a great deal of scanning interference. You will be safe there," General Grievous said.

"Safe? Chancellor Palpatine managed to escape your grip, General. Without Count Dooku, I have doubts about your ability to keep us safe," Nute Gunray said in outburst.

"Be thankful, Viceroy, you have not found yourself in my grip . . . Your ship is waiting," Grievous told him.

Obi-Wan removed his cloak and jumped down to face Grievous. "Hello, there!"

"General Kenobi, you are a bold one. I find your behavior bewildering . . . Surely you realize you're doomed,"Grievous said and turned to the droids. "Kill him!"

About a hundred battle droids surrounded Obi-Wan, Grievous, and his bodyguards. Obi-Wan calmly looked around, then walked right up to Grievous and stared him down.

"Enough of this!" Grievous bellowed

The bodyguards raised their power staffs to knock Obi-Wan away, but Obi-Wan ducked as the deadly staffs whistled over his head. The Jedi's lightsaber ignited, and Obi-Wan deftly cut one bodyguard in two. His staff flew into the air and was caught by General Grievous. The other three bodyguards attacked Obi-Wan with an intense fury.

Obi-Wan used the force to release apiece of equipment from the ceiling. It dropped on the bodyguards, smashing them. Obi-Wan walked toward Grievous, slashing the last bodyguard to pieces. Battle droids moved toward Obi-Wan.

"Back away. I will deal with this Jedi slime myself," Grievous ordered.

"Your move," Obi-Wan told him.

"You fool. I have been trained in your Jedi arts by Count Dooku himself. Attack, Kenobi," Grievous said. His arms separated and grabbed all four lightsabers on his belt. His four arms created a flashing display of swordsmanship.

"You forget, I trained the Jedi that defeated Count Dooku!" Obi-Wan told him and calmly waited for the perfect moment to strike as Grievous got closer, striking when the force guided him. They fought across the control room as the battle droid sharpshooters tried to pick off the Jedi. Obi-Wan mounted a ferocious counterattack and cut off one of Greivous's hands. A loud explosion was heard echoing throughout the sinkhole. Grievous and Obi-Wan glanced to the entrance of the control center and see clone troops and republican army officials in the distance, attacking droids in the sinkhole. On the far wall of the sinkhole, they could be seen rappelling onto balconies.

"I may not defeat your droids, but my troops certainly will," Obi-Wan said to Grievous

"Army or not, you must realize you are doomed," Grievous said.

Obi-Wan smiled, "I don't think so," he said.

twenty army officers and clones suddenly rappelled into the entrance of the control center, blasters blazing. Chaos. Laser bolts flew everywhere as the droids returned fire. Obi-Wan attacked Grievous, who defended himself rigorously with one of his bodyguard's electro-staffs. Obi-Wan used the Force to hurl Grievous backwards. He fell onto a lower platform and Obi-Wan jumped down after him.

----------------------------------------------------

Jedi Master Mace Windu sat in his mediation chamber when his senses alerted him to a presence outside the door. "Enter!" he called out. The door slid open and Mace was surprised to see Anakin Skywalker come in. "Skywalker," Mace greeted. "What can I do for you?" he asked suspiciously.

Anakin's face betrayed nothing as he stared at the jedi master. "I just came here to talk," he said.

This raised Mace's interest and suspicions. He could tell that Skywalker had an agenda, whether or not it had to do with him, Mace did not know. But whatever it was it had Mace curious. "About?" he asked.

"I think that it is time that you get filled in on what is truly going on," Anakin told him.

Mace raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He would let Skywalker do the talking.

Anakin sighed. "I know that you do not trust me and I admit, you have good reasons, but I can assure you, I have nothing but the most honorable intentions regarding the order," he began. "I didn't ask to be put on the council and if it wasn't for my business with the chancellor, I would step down right now," he told him.

"The council does not approve of you relationship with Chancellor Palpatine," Mace told him.

Anakin's jaw tightened. "There is no relationship. There never was. Palpatine has been using me all along, he had his eyes set of my soul since he met me," he told him.

This bit of information disturbed Mace some. If Skywalker became Vader, then the galaxy would surely suffer. "Then maybe you should sever ties irreversibly," he said.

"I'm afraid that I can't do that or I would. Sidious would get suspicious and the plan to stop him would cease to work," Anakin told him.

"What plan?" Mace demanded.

"This plan is not on record, the council is not supposed to know about it. It is critical that barely anyone knows about it," Anakin told him.

"There is more to your story, I suggest that you start from the beginning," Mace told him.

"My story is unbelievable," Anakin told him.

"Take a seat," Mace ordered.

Anakin complied and took a seat opposite from the jedi master. "We both know how mystical the force is, sometimes it does things that are unexplainable. The force has always shown me things that are to come. But this time it wasn't a dream, I lived it," he told him.

"Go on," Mace told him.

Anakin took a deep breath, "Two years ago I traveled to the future," he told him bluntly and upon Mace's raised eyebrows he told him of the incredible dark future and how he had learned that the chancellor was the sith lord that they were looking for. He left out the details that Luke and Leia were his children but told him of the future nonetheless.

Mace sat and listened to Skywalker's incredible tale, hardly believing it, yet something in the force told him that he spoke the truth. If what Skywalker had seen was true then they were in a lot of trouble.

At the end of the tale, Anakin took a deep breath. "You have suspected something all along and here it is before you. You no longer have reason to mistrust me," he told him and stood up.

"The council will not believe you," Mace told him.

"I know," Anakin told him. "I never expected them to," he said. He walked over to the window and watched the city of Coruscant. "I've always been aware that I was not to be trusted. I could feel the mistrust and fear rolling off of you in waves since I first came here. Being a jedi means everything to me, it was what I was meant for," he said. "But it was your mistrust that had me running to Palpatine, looking for a friend in a place that didn't feel friendly," he smiled sadly. "I admired you, Master. I admired your skill with the lightsaber but most importantly I admired your wisdom and how you were always able to keep yourself at peace. I often times considered asking you for advise. But every time I worked up enough courage, I would feel the mistrust and I would loose confidence," he told him.

Mace looked at him. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

Anakin turned to face him and Mace didn't like what he saw in his eyes. A mixture of determination and fear.

"I just felt that you should know, that's all," Anakin told him before bowing and taking his leave.

When he was gone, Mace pondered his words. It was as if Skywalker was not only making peace but giving his last words. That alone disturbed Mace. He folded his hands and rested his forehead against them. If Skywalker failed then that would mean that he, as a master, had failed him. Could his mistrust of a youngling aid in the dark future that was to come? For the first time in his life, Mace felt that he had been wrong.

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Obi-Wan gave Boga a swift kick with the heel of his boot, and they took off down the vertical side of the sheer cliff. As Grievous reached the landing platform where his shuttle was waiting. Obi-Wan dropped onto the top of the starship with Boga. Grievous spun his round scooter around and took off up the vertical cliff face with Obi-Wan and Boga in hot pursuit. The sinkhole was engulfed in a great battle between the republican army and and the separatists droid army. The people of Utapau cowered in whatever shelter they could find.

Obi-Wan and Grievous raced through the city at breakneck speed. Passing through battle zones, narrowly escaping explosions, laser bolts, and troops from both sides.

Grievous laid the scooter down as he went around sharp turns. Boga breathed hard as she tried to keep up. They destroyed droids, equipment, and clone troops as the jedi and the general cut a swath of destruction through the city.

Grievous worked his way out onto the rim of the sinkhole, passing some wind blades. The evil droid general released the brakes on the lethal blades, and they begun to spin, cutting off Obi-Wan's access to the General. Boga pulled up short in front of the blades.

Grievous laughed and talked into a comlink. "Prepare to move out of orbit. I will be up in a few moments," he ordered and accelerated off the edge, activating his claws, dropped, and clung to another nearby grouping of windmills. Boga attempted to jump to follow and barely made it, almost falling into the precipice below.

Grievous roared through the stone block tunnel system, riding up on the curved walls as he went around corners or passed oncoming traffic. Obi-Wan raced after the him, Boga moving onto the ceiling as they passed traffic. Obi-Wan caught up with Grievous, and they charged through the tunnel, side by side. Obi-Wan grabbed the droid's electronic staff.

Extending from the wall of a small sinkhole was a secret landing platform with a small Federation Fighter sitting in the middle of it. Obi-Wan and Grievous raced out of the tunnel system and onto the landing platform.

Obi-Wan yanked on the staff, then jumped off of Boga onto the Grievous's scooter, knocking both warriors to the ground. Grievous pulled out a blaster and fired at Obi-Wan. The jedi reached out his hand, grabbed the General's electro-staff and spun the staff, blocking the laser bolts.

Obi-Wan charged Grievous, swinging the staff and hitting the Droid in the stomach, knocking the gun away. Grievous pulled Obi-Wan closer to him, and they engaged in a furious fight. The electro-staff was knocked away. The two engage in hand-to-hand combat. Obi-Wan struggled to avoid the deadly blows of the brutal, unstoppable droid.

Grievous's stomach plate was loose from where he was hit with the electro-staff. Obi-Wan grabbed it and ripped it off, revealing the alien life form's guts encased in a bag in the droid's chest. Grievous grabbed Obi-Wan, hoisted him over his head, and tossed him across the platform. Obi-Wan dangled off the edge of the platform. He clutched the rim, trying to hold on. The droid then grabbed the staff and charged at Obi-Wan. At the last second, Obi-Wan reached out his hand and used the force to retrieve the droid's blaster. He fired several blasts in the stomach area of the alien droid, and the droid general exploded from the inside out. The smoldering droid fell to the ground dead. Obi-Wan pulled himself up onto the platform and walked by the destroyed carcass.

"So uncivilized . . ." Obi-Wan said tossing the blaster aside. As he brushed himself off he heard Qui-Gon's voice yelling at him to return to Coruscant. "Anakin," he deducted and jumped back on Boga racing to get to his star fighter.

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Anakin raced through the senate chambers. Just a bit ago they had received word that Obi-Wan had destroyed General Grievous and he was to bring the news to Palpatine. The war was still far from over even if the word gets out that Grievous was now spare parts. Anakin was slightly happy that Obi-Wan had succeeded. But the battle of Utapau wasn't even over. Obi-Wan wouldn't return for days now. He only prayed that he would return in time.

Anakin stopped short in front of the chancellor office but didn't bother with the proper way to enter the chancellor's office. He waved a hand in front of the guards who instantly let him pass and he walked inside.

"Chancellor, we have just received a report from Master Kenobi. He has engaged General Grievous," Anakin said as he entered the chancellor's office. He left out the part that Obi-Wan had won.

"We can only hope that Master Kenobi is up to the challenge," Palpatine said sincerely.

Anakin paced around the room. "I should be there with him," he said showing his worry and anxiety.

"It is upsetting to me to see that the council doesn't seem to fully appreciate your talents. Don't you wonder why they won't make you a jedi master?" Palpatine said getting up from his seat in a move of concern.

Anakin knew why but he couldn't voice it. "I wish I knew. More and more I get the feeling that I am being excluded from the Council. I know there are things about the force that they are not telling me," he said looking out the window. He added the last part for show only.

"They don't trust you, Anakin. They see your future. They know your power will be too strong to control. Anakin, you must break through the fog of lies the jedi have created around you. Let me help you to know the subtleties of the Force," Palpatine said

Anakin looked at him briefly before looking out the window. Master Yoda knew his future, surly he hasn't talked to the other council members about it. He trusted Master Yoda and he hoped that Master Yoda trusted him. And now he had revealed it to Master Windu who would surely tell the rest of the council earning more mistrust. The council didn't trust him. They had a reason to now more than ever. Sure they pretty much did everything that Master Yoda said, but most of them usually sided with Master Windu. Master Windu defenantly didn't trust him, even after his revelation. That was the key. Finally Anakin spoke keeping his mask of ignorance. "How do you know the ways of the Force?" he asked.

"My mentor taught me everything about the Force . . . even the nature of the dark side," Palpatine told him. Anakin could feel his eyes on him.

"You know the dark side?!?" Anakin said turning to face him.

Palpatine continued to look at him like a father would to his child as he explained things and said, "Anakin, if one is to understand the great mystery, one must study all its aspects, not just the dogmatic, narrow view of the jedi. If you wish to become a complete and wise leader, you must embrace a larger view of the Force. Be careful of the jedi, Anakin," he paused, "They fear you. In time they will destroy you. Let me train you."

Anakin turned away from him then. "I won't be a pawn in your political game. The jedi are my family," he told him.

"Only through me can you achieve a power greater than any Jedi. Learn to know the dark side of the Force, Anakin, and you will be able to save your wife from certain death," Palpatine said doing his best to draw him in.

Anakin turned to face him sharply. "What did you say?" he hissed

"Use my knowledge, I beg you . . ." Palpatine began before Anakin interrupted him.

"You're a Sith Lord!" Anakin said igniting his lightsaber.

"You act surprised, but we both know that you have known for quite some time," Palpatine said patiently and then continued. "I know what has been troubling you . . . Listen to me. Don't continue to be a pawn of the Jedi Council! Ever since I've known you, you've been searching for a life greater than that of an ordinary Jedi . . . a life of significance, of conscience," he said.

"You're wrong!" Anakin told him. It wasn't true...was it? Wasn't his reasons for wanting to become a jedi so that he could help people, to free the slaves. To make his mother proud. A life greater than that of a slave.

"Are you going to kill me?" Palpatine asked.

"I would certainly like to," Anakin told him truthfully.

Palpatine smiled savoring the taste of his anger. "I know you would. I can feel your anger. It gives you focus, makes you stronger," he said

Anakin raised his lightsaber to Palpatine's throat. It was a tense moment. He had his chance, he had the moment he had been waiting for staring him in the face. He had to do it. Without a conscious thought he relaxed, and then turned off his lightsaber. He lost it. He couldn't do it.

"I'm going to turn you over to the Jedi Council," he lied.

"Of course you should. But you're not sure of their intentions, are you? What if I am right and they are plotting to take over the Republic?" Palpatine said.

Anakin looked away from the chancellor and down at his lightsaber in his hand. He knew that Palpatine was lying. He was a sith. It was his destiny to destroy him...wasn't it?

"You have great wisdom, Anakin. Know the power of the dark side. The power to save Padme," Palpatine said in his silence.

Anakin stared at him for a moment. So this was how it began. This was what allowed Vader to take control. He had feared this. This was destiny. Maybe it wasn't supposed to change. Finally he came to a decision. He could hear Qui-Gon screaming at him not to do it but he ignored him. Without a word, Anakin dropped to his knees. "I will do whatever you ask.," he said "I pledge myself to your teachings. To the ways of the Sith," he said finally, looking Palpatine in the eye.


	50. Destiny Of A Lie

A/N: I'm NOT sorry for the cliffhanger from the last chapter and neither am I sorry for the one in this chapter. But know this, we have one more chapter before the epilogue. I have enjoyed writing this story and look forward to continuing it through the sequel.

Charlie.

* * *

Padme stared out into the skyline of Coruscant. It felt like only moments ago that Obi-Wan had contacted Anakin bringing the news of Grievous's demise. It felt like only moments ago that Anakin had left without a word. In truth it had been two hours. She watched the jedi temple in the distance, all was quiet. A little too quiet to her liking. Padme turned away from the view knowing that Anakin wouldn't magically appear if she kept watching for him. Taking a deep breath, she walked away from the balcony.

And she walked away from the view she felt two tiny kicks and she placed a hand over her stomach. The babies were more than active, they were down right fearful. Padme could feel it. She only prayed that Anakin wasn't doing anything foolish. That he was safe.

Realizing that Anakin may not be coming home anytime soon, Padme sat down on the bed before laying down in a comfortable position. Whatever would happen, she had a feeling that it would be soon. Palpatine will make his move very soon.

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Shmi walked into the medical bay with her escort from Padme's guards. Since Anakin had left the apartment, she had fought his orders for her to be brought to Minga but now that Anakin had disappeared, she had given in. Shmi thought that it was odd for Anakin to order her to go to the temple, yet he didn't order his wife who just happened to be pregnant with his children. But then again, Padme Amidala was as stubborn as Anakin and just as able to protect herself. Shmi knew nothing about self defense. Padme knew just as much as Anakin making Shmi wonder what kind of family the Skywalker family had become. But why wouldn't they know how to act in battle, they had enemies, both of them. Shmi shuddered for the two babies that were to be born very soon.

Minga came over to her immediately. "Anakin left me a cryptic message over an hour ago to keep you here," she said and looked past Shmi. "Where's Padme?" she asked.

"She didn't come, She was at her office when I left," Shmi answered remembering Padme telling her that she had a lot of work to do before she could even consider settling down for the night.

Minga looked over at the nabooan guard standing behind Shmi. "You can go now, she will be in excellent hands," she told him.

"As you wish," The guard said before leaving.

Minga took Shmi's hands. "I have a really bad feeling. Usually with these feelings comes a lot of work. Are you prepared to help me?" she asked calmly.

"Did Anakin tell you where he was?" Shmi asked fearfuly.

Minga shook her head. "His message was very short, it has me worried that he's done something without the councils knowledge, especially Master Yoda's and Obi-Wan's," she told her.

"What could it mean?" Shmi asked.

"The only thing that it could mean. The end of this war, whatever the outcome," Minga told her.

----------------------------------------------------

Obi-Wan hated flying. He had grown to hate it after flying with Anakin. But he mostly detested hyperspace more at this moment. He was so sure that Anakin was in trouble. Qui-Gon's warning rang through his ears. _Get to Anakin, Get to Anakin._ Obi-Wan had to make sure that Anakin wasn't doing something foolish. He just hoped that he would get to Coruscant on time. Gingerly, he felt a little tug in the force. Obi-Wan looked down to see a little switch on the hyperdrive controls that wasn't there before when he had chosen this star fighter. And he remembered Anakin had been tinkering around his starfighter that sat right next to his in the jedi hanger. Anakin had tampered with the hyperdrive in this starfighter, Obi-Wan was sure of it. "I'm sure that I'm going to regret this," he grumbled to himself before flipping the unknown switch. Instantly the hyperdrive blasted on a superior speed flattening Obi-Wan to the seat in the cockpit. "This is why I hate flying!" Obi-Wan shouted.

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Mace had spent the past three hours meditating on Skywalker's words. The more he meditated, the more he found himself believing Skywalker. It was very troubling. Qui-Gon Jinn was right about one thing, Skywalker _was_ the chosen one. After his meditation Mace had come to a decision. He would put the mistrust aside and help Skywalker. He would not let Skywalker fail in his task.

It was with this that Mace heard the screams of the force and looked to find the source to see Skywalker walking briskly into the temple with his cloak pulled up around him. Mace stood impassively as Skywalker walked straight over to him. The other jedi in the temple watched him curiously.

Finally Skywalker stopped in front of Mace and his hand brushed over his lightsaber before he lowered his hood. "It is time," he said. "Prepare a defense around the temple and contact all the jedi abroad, tell them to take cover," Anakin told him.

"What did you do?" Mace demanded.

"What I had to do," Anakin answered and walked past him.

"That does not answer my question," Mace told him tightly coming up beside him.

Anakin looked at Mace briefly. "The plan has been moved into action," he said.

"This mysterious plan of yours will fail unless you tell me what it is," Mace told him.

"I can't tell you what it is," Anakin told him calmly.

"You don't have a choice," Mace told him strictly.

Anakin looked around them at all of the jedi present. "Not here," he said.

Mace held out his hand to the briefing room which was currently empty. "Lets discuss this," he said.

Anakin walked into the briefing room with Mace before Mace shut the door. "The ways of the sith is betrayal. The ultimate act of betrayal is for the apprentice to kill his or her master. So far Sidious has had a total of two apprentices, both killed by jedi. Sidious has yet to know betrayal," he told him.

"I don't follow," Mace said crossing his arms.

"I gave Sidious what he wanted or so he thinks. But once he finds that I have betrayed him, he will order the attack on the jedi if I can't stop him before he does. That is why you must prepare the order," Anakin told him.

Mace narrowed his eyes at him. "You have pledged yourself to the sith then," he demanded.

Anakin smirked. "Not quite. Words are sometimes just that, they often times mean nothing," he told him.

"I do not approve of this," Mace said tightly.

"I have his confession as a sith lord on recording. Everything is prepared for the fall for once the Republic finds out what we are bout to do," Anakin told him.

"And if this plan fails?" Mace demanded.

"It wont," Anakin told him.

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Following Skywalker's plan, Mace informed his fellow Master on the jedi council that Chancellor Palpatine was making his move and that they were moving to arrest him. He made a show of ordering Anakin to stay put in the council chambers, which Anakin protested in show of the other council members. It was then that they boarded a gun ship to leave the temple and arrive at the Senate building.

Once there, Mace noticed the night sky growing darker as if a dark cloud covered Coruscant. An omen of things to come. Mace refused to consider this a sign that things would not turn out as expected. Instead he nodded his head at his fellow jedi, all of whom followed him through the senate halls. But as they walked through the halls and passed windows on the way to the chancellor's office, he spotted a recklessly piloted speeder approaching from the direction of the jedi temple. They finally reached the Chancellor's office and force pushed the red robed guards aside, knowing them out before entering the office.

Chancellor Palpatine turned around in his chair and addressed the jedi masters. "Master Windu. I take it General Grievous has been destroyed then. I must say, you're here sooner than expected," he said.

Mace ignited his lightsaber waiting for Skywalker to arrive as planned. "In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you are under arrest, Chancellor," he said. The other jedi ignited their lightsabers at his proclamation.

Chancellor Palpatine obviously didn't like what he was hearing. "Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?" he asked dangerously.

Any moment Skywalker would arrive. Mace had to hold his ground until he made his entrance knowing that the fate of the galaxy rested upon this very moment. "The Senate will decide your fate," he said.

Chancellor Palpatine laughed sinisterly. "I am the Senate," he said arrogantly. At that moment something caught Mace's eyes out the window. He made no move to indicate that anything was happening outside this office.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin pulled the speeder up outside the chancellor's wall sized office window. He summoned his single blade lightsaber and ignited it. He jumped to his feet on the seat of the speeder and made a slashing movement with his lightsaber at the window sending the glass shattering, catching everyone's attention from the room within. He jumped onto the window ledge and walked through the newly made opening. The only sound that was heard was the glass crunching beneath his boot clad feet.

The Chancellor's face instantly changed from a look of rage to a look of relief. A perfect concealment of the dark plans in his head. "Oh Anakin! It has happened just as we predicted, the jedi are taking over," he said in his signature kindly old man voice.

Anakin looked up at the other jedi from under the hood of his cloak and tilted his chin up to them slightly giving them the signal. "Your work here is done, Masters. I will take over from now," he said authoritatively as he stepped further into the room taking off his hood as he did so.

Mace nodded to the other jedi as they exited the room in search of the other minions of Palpatine's. Anakin turned to the Chancellor. "It's over," he said.

"The time to act is now Anakin. The Republic can no longer trust the jedi," Chancellor Palpatine said.

Anakin raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, is that so?" he said putting away his single bladed lightsaber. "Excuse me if I don't believe your lies," he added pulling out his duel bladed lightsaber. He stood in formation as he ignited both blades one at a time.

Sidious gave him a look of pure rage. "You've betrayed me!" he said outraged.

"I think you have that backwards," Anakin said and moved to strike the sith lord. "I've been a slave once before, I will not become yours," he declared.

"If you will not join me, then you will die, _Jedi_," Sidious spat. Sidious' crimson lightsaber found it's way into his hands and he charged at Anakin, but Anakin easily blocked his blade knocking him backwards.

"You only have that half right," Anakin said knocking Sidious back again. "I've been training for this moment for two years. I plan to live."

Sidious' face was full of rage and he moved to strike at Anakin's chest showing superb strength for an old man. Anakin turned and blocked his blade with one end of his lightsaber and turning it so that he could knock Sidious' blade out of his hands and clear across the room. He used the middle of the lightsaber to hit the sith lord in the face giving him a bloody nose. Sidious almost lost his balance but righted himself before covering his face with his hands. Anakin took this opportunity to force push the sith lord through the opened door. Sidious looked around him to find that the other jedi had disappeared. He got up and summoned his lightsaber back into his hands just as Anakin came through the door. The senate offices were empty and dark save for the two of them and their ignited lightsabers. Where were the guards? Crimson blade locked with sapphire blades as the dark lord of the sith and the chosen one of the jedi, hero with no fear, whatever you liked to call him, dueled. The rage on the dark lords face was made more sinister with the splattered blood on his face. Anakin betrayed no emotion as he dueled the dark lord. It unnerved the dark lord that Anakin was so deathly calm. This was certainly not the Anakin Skywalker he had come to know.

"The oppression of this sith will never rule the galaxy!" Anakin declared.

"Don't you see Anakin? My plans are to improve the galaxy. I plan to fix everything that is wrong with it now. Make it better," Sidious said calmly.

"I don't believe that for one second," Anakin said as they locked sabers again. By now they had reached the senate chambers.

Sidious sought refuge on the Chancellor's podium and it started to rise. "The jedi have blinded you from seeing the good that the new order will bring if you'll just think for one moment," he said.

"I don't need to think about what plans you have of the future because I'VE BEEN THERE!" Anakin declared jumping up onto the podium locking blades with the dark lord once again.

Sidious' face was full of rage once again as he shoved Anakin off of the podium. Anakin anticipated it and flipped up onto one of the senate pods, lightsaber still in hand. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Anakin was supposed to be Sidious' apprentice! "So sure you are of what you've seen then. You will pay for your lack of vision!" he yelled. Quick as a flash he pulled out a comlink and spoke into it. "Execute order sixty six!" he ordered.

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Baxter ran through the jedi temple and into the hanger. He as well as every jedi in the temple had heard the order being made. It was happening just as Anakin had said it would. Baxter would always be amazed at how Anakin knew of the things that were to come. Now was the time to fight for the order. Thousands of ships were coming to the temple, ready to destroy them. The clones were turning on them. But with Anakin gone somewhere else, the force only knew, Baxter was the one jedi on Coruscant who ranked second only to Anakin who could pilot a ship.

Upon reaching his green jedi starfighter, Baxter jumped into the cockpit and prepared to take off. Around him other jedi and senior padawans jumped into their own respective cockpits while other padawans were ordered to stay with the younglings and crèchelings in the heart of the temple. Only senior jedi and padawans were to fight in this battle. "Master, it seems as though Anakin was right," Baxter said into his comlink.

"It seems that way, Padawan," Lexus Jhon replied as they took off.

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MYGEETO-DAWN

The sky slowly awakened on the crystal world of Mygeeto. A battle raged. Clone troops battled the droid armies across a long bridge. Ki-Adi-Mundi used his lightsaber to deflect enemy fire. He sensed the screaming in the force just as clone commander Bacara exited a gunship near the entrance to the city. The clone rallied his troops to attack the city, then got a message on his comlink. The ever fateful message.

Ki-Adi-Mundi heard the order shorty after the screams. Before he could defend himself the clones turned on him. But before they could strike the Republican Army that Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi built fired down on the clones killing them instantly. Ki-Adi-Mundi nodded to the army officials. "Good job, now lets win this battle!" he said.

FELUCIA-FOREST-DAY

A column of clone walkers marched across the forest floor. The strange calls of the alien forest creatures of Felucia suddenly stopped. Aayla Secura and her clone troops braced for an ambush.

"Steady. . . . steady . . ." Aayla breathed.

They all look around for signs of the enemy. Clone commander Bly moved up behind the Jedi.

"Bly, do you think they're droids?" Aayla asked.

"No," Bly answered dangerously.

Before By could blast Aayla in the back, she turned around and cut him in two. Before the other clones troops could do anything, Aayla got help destroying them from the Republican Army officials.

KASHYYYK-MEETING HALL-DAY

Master Yoda's ears perked up as he heard the scream in the force. The scream that belonged to Anakin Skywalker. It was a warning to all of the jedi. It was happening. Order sixty six was happening now. Master Yoda was sure that Skywalker was projecting this warning to all of the jedi, he only prayed that they would heed it. Suddenly his danger senses alerted him to something close by. In one swift move he reached for his lightsaber and flipped up decapitating the clones behind him.

KASHYYYK-EDGE OF VILIAGE-DAY

The battle appeared to be over. Wookiees destroyed droids while clones assessed the damage to their equipment. A Jedi, Luminara Unduli, talked with eight clone officers standing in a circle around her. Suddenly they revealed their hidden pistols and blast her before she can react. She didn't hear the screams in the force warning her.

The Jedi Quinlan Vos was riding on top of a clone turbo tank. The main cannon of a second tank slowly swung to point right at him and a couple of clones. The cannon fired, and Quinlan force jumped out of the way upon hearing the screams in the force just as the tank he was on blew up.

CATO XEIMOIDIA-JEDI STARFIGHTER-DAY

Plo Koon headed his ship toward a battle on a landing platform. "There they are. Land on the nearest platform," he ordered.

He heard the screams in the force and instantly swerved out of the way when the clones following him tried to blast him dead. From behind the clones the Republican Army blasted the clones away.

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A sudden boom in the distance jolted Padme up from her bed. She looked around to find that she was still alone. Fearfully she walked over to the balcony and watched in horror as the jedi temple was attacked. She recognized the fighters attacking the temple as clone fighters as well as the jedi star fighters defending the temple. A second boom erupted in the night and Padme tore her eyes away from the temple to see the clone headquarters blow up. She snapped her attention back to the temple and placed her hand protectively over her stomach and prayed to the spirits that Anakin was okay. That he would make it out of this okay.

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Baxter fired at the twentieth clone fighter killing the clone inside. If Anakin were here they would be keeping score. The winner would be payed in full. Nonetheless, he smirked as another clone fighter came in range. "Come one baby, I have you now," he said dangerously and blasted the clone out of the sky. "All too easy," he complained. "Master, how many have you got?" he asked into his comlink.

"Not as many as you, Padawan," Lexus replied.

"Where are you?" Baxter asked.

"Clear on the other side of the temple," Lexus told him.

Baxter chanced a glance in his master's direction. "I see you," he said. "There sure is a lot of them," he commented blasting away at another fighter.

"Thankfully your friend's army took care of the rest of them. The reports say that they were marching out of headquarters when the building blew up," Lexus told him.

"That's Skywalker for you," Baxter stated grinning. "He's thought of everything," he said swerving to the side after a fighter. "Although it would be nice if he showed up and helped out, we're being picked off bit by bit!" he said noting the shrinking amount of jedi starfighters as they blew up in the dog fight.

"Don't fret, Padawan, the force will aid us, you must trust in it," Lexus reminded him.

"I also trust my instincts!" Baxter told him pulling a spiral move hitting four clone fighters at once and blowing them up. He chanced another look in his masters direction to see clone fighters surround him. "Master watch out!" he called but his warning came too late as he watched his master's fighter blow up. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Master!" he called out but got no response. "Master!"

His danger senses alerted him to high danger but before he could react his fighter rocked violently as though he had been hit. "Sithspit!" he cursed snapping himself out of his distraught state and tried violently to regain control of his ship but his starfighter continued to rock violently. His artoo unit screamed at him. "I know I know!" he shouted at the droid before his engine caught fire. "I am _not_ going out this way!" he snapped fighting for control of his ship as it plummeted down to the roof of the temple. Another blast fired at him in the front and Baxter threw his arm up over his face as he crashed head on and the glass in his canopy shattered.

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A moment of panic filled Anakin upon hearing the order given. No! He failed to stop order sixty six. But then he remembered that the jedi were alerted to it already and the new army. Using the force he hurtled a senate pot at Palpatine who dodged it with ease. Anakin closed his eye s briefly summoning the force to scream a warning to the jedi through it.

Sidious used a senate pod from above Anakin to fall on top of him but Anakin quickly jumped into another pod just as the two pods crashed into each other. "If you kill me now then any chance for you to save Padme dies with me," Sidious goaded.

"Wrong! If I join you she will die!" Anakin snapped hurtling another senate pod at the dark lord who quickly jumped out of the way. Anakin was getting tired of the sith lord's sorry attempt at trying to turn him. He was getting tired of the dark lord period. In one quick move he hurtled another pod at the dark lord at the same time that he jumped across the room landing in front of the dark lord who had jumped out of the way to avoid getting squashed.

"This is the end for you Lord Sidious. Your reign is over before it even begins," Anakin said moving to strike the sith lord down. But Sidious blocked him and force pushed him away sending force lightning at him as well. Anakin landed on his back in the center of one pod with his lightsaber at his side.

"The senate will never stand for a jedi to murder their Chancellor. Every surviving jedi will be made an enemy of the Republic," Sidious said looming over him.

Anakin laughed as he stared up at the sith lord. "The senate is well aware of your treachery my lord. Your power is null in void. I've made sure of this," he said.

Enraged, Sidious plunged his blade upon Anakin who quickly deflected it shoving the sith lord back. "Why do you think that I didn't kill you two years ago when I returned?! You had too much power then. But within the last two years Your power has been weakening within the senate. Surely you've sensed it. And who do you think planted the seed?" Anakin said.

"Your precious wife and that spawn she is carrying will die for her treachery as soon as I am done with you!" Sidious yelled raging. He moved to plunge his crimson blade through Anakin's chest but Anakin was quicker. Palpatine looked down to see Anakin's sapphire blade, piercing his heart. His grip on his lightsaber loosed until the crimson blade turned off still in Anakin's chest. His last thoughts were those of satisfaction that he would be taking Anakin with him.

"And what a short reign it is," Anakin said finally as the sith lord breathed his last breath.

The now lifeless body of Palpatine fell on top of Anakin when he deactivated his lightsaber. Disgusted, Anakin used what strength he had left and shoved the lifeless body away from him and out of the pod to the bottom of the chambers. The pain in his chest from where Sidious' blade plunged into it came at him hard taking over him making him loose what awareness he had left. His last thoughts went to his family knowing that they were safe before he lost consciousness.

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Mace heard the screams that Anakin had sent through the force. Instantly he felt that something had gone wrong. He looked off in the direction to the senate arena which was where the force screams were coming from as he and Kit Fisto interrogated Mass Amedda.

"You hear it too," Kit Fisto deducted.

"Stay here," Mace ordered.

"You jedi will pay for this, the chancellor will see to it!" Mas Amedda shouted.

Mace ignore him and he rushed from the room and followed the screams until they grew dim. He would _not_ let Skywalker fail. A dozen memories flashed through Mace's mind. He remembered when Qui-Gon Jinn had brought Skywalker to the temple. The boy looked around at them all bravely but Mace could sense the fear and anger in the child that grew up as a slave. He sensed the danger surrounding the child. And as the child grew up, the fear disappeared but the anger had remained. Mace remembered watching the boy train, how much effort he put in his training. The aggression that he felt was put in his fighting style. But the boy continued to build droids and fix things. Mace remembered the countless pranks that Skywalker had pulled. He remembered how many times Skywalker would "kidnap" the younglings and play with them. But most importantly he remembered Skywalker's last words.

"_I admired you, Master. I admired your skill with the lightsaber but most importantly I admired your wisdom and how you were always able to keep yourself at peace. I often times considered asking you for advise. But every time I worked up enough courage, I would feel the mistrust and I would loose confidence."_

Mace broke into a run into the senate arena to find several pods crashed into each other, some very badly damaged. But what caught his attention was the body that dropped to the floor of the arena. Mace rushed over to it finding it to be the dead body of Chancellor Palpatine. Killed by a lightsaber through his heart. Mace looked up from where the body had dropped but didn't see Skywalker. "Skywalker!" he called but he didn't get an answer. Something in the force told him that something was terribly wrong. "So help me," he muttered force jumping from pod to pod, searching for Skywalker. About one hundred pods up, the force tugged at him and he began searching pod after pod until he found Skywalker laying down in a pod, not moving, with a lightsaber wound in his chest.

Mace rushed over to him and quickly searched for a pulse finding a very weak one. He immediately reached for his comlink. "I need a medical capsule immediately!" he called into it.

"What happened?" Agen Kolar asked.

"Skywalker is down! If we don't get that medical capsule soon, he may not make it!" Mace told him.

"I'll get on it right away!" Agen replied.

Mace put away his comlink and focused on the force before pressing his hand against Skywalker's forehead. Something told Mace that Skywalker was planning to sacrifice himself to save the galaxy. And he did.

"_I admired you, Master. I admired your skill with the lightsaber but most importantly I admired your wisdom and how you were always able to keep yourself at peace. I often times considered asking you for advise. But every time I worked up enough courage, I would feel the mistrust and I would loose confidence."_

"You have earned my trust, Skywalker. By the force you have earned it," Mace breathed.


	51. Aftershocks

A/N: This is the last chapter before the epilogue. I hope that you have enjoyed the ride as I have.

Charlie.

* * *

Shmi couldn't take her attention away from the battle going on over the temple as she assisted Minga keeping things in order. Where was Anakin? She hadn't seen him since he had disappeared hours ago. What was going on? Where was her son? She prayed that he wasn't one of the pilots fighting over the temple. From the holonet in the room, the reporters talked about all the different ships blowing up. Apparently there was a siege going on outside the temple as jedi and the republican army that were stationed on Coruscant took on the clone army. Everything that Anakin said would come to pass was happening. Shmi closed her eyes as she remembered what Anakin told her, how he could see the future. She didn't believe it then, but now she wasn't so sure. Finally the explosions seemed to stop, it stopped suddenly before the reporter on the holonet started reporting on it.

"_The clones stopped attacking the the jedi temple! They're dropping like the plague had suddenly come over them!"_

And Shmi remembered hearing about something Anakin was planning. But they didn't say anything about Anakin.

"_Medics have just arrived at the temple! Someone's been injured! It looks like a jedi! Most of the jedi council are surrounding the medical capsule!"_

Shmi suddenly felt sick. Where was Anakin? Was he okay? Why hasn't he made contact?

"_We've just received word that Chancellor Palpatine is dead!"_

Minutes later the doors into the medical bay burst open with members of the jedi council surrounding a medical capsule. Shmi turned to face them just as suddenly as Minga did and she began to scream.

"ANAKIN!!!!!!" Shmi screamed upon seeing her son on the capsule looking pale as a ghost and completely still with a hole in the middle of his chest. Members of the jedi council had to restrain her as she screamed frantically and tried to rush over to her son not knowing what to do. "LET ME GO! ANAKIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed struggling against her captors but they were a lot stronger than she was and as Anakin continued not to move and began growing even paler she started getting even more hysterical.

"Get her out of here!" Minga called rushing over to where Anakin was.

Shmi fought harder as they took her out of the room. That's when she caught sight of Obi-Wan running towards them. "LET ME GO! ANAKIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed finally breaking free and was about to go back into the room when Obi-Wan caught her.

"He'll make it, He's survived so many times before, he's going to make it," Obi-Wan told her but she knew that he was saying it more for himself than for her.

It killed her more than it relieved her when Anakin began screaming blood curtailing screams. What were they doing to him?! "ANAKIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed. She needed to go to her son. She fought against Obi-Wan as he dragged her away.

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Anakin's eyes slowly opened up to intense light. He quickly shut them and groaned in pain. As the rest of his body woke up he felt as though his chest was on fire and hissed through the pain.

"Anakin! Thank the force you're alive!"

Anakin barely recognized the voice, it sounded so far away. He opened up his eyes again but everything was so blurry, he barely made out his surroundings. The fire in his chest continued to burn. He could no longer take the pain and screamed. He felt something cool placed over him but that only made it worse and he screamed even more. It wouldn't go away.

"You're going to be alright Anakin. You have to trust me."

The coolness left his chest only to be replaced with the feeling of being torn apart within his chest as though someone was invading it and the fire got worse. He screamed and fought against it using the force to push whatever it was away from him. He barely heard the sound of a body being throne against clanging objects before a groaning sound could be heard.

"I'm Sorry Anakin. I can't give you anything for the pain, it'll just make it worse."

The fire wasn't going away. He couldn't remember what had started the fire. All he knew was that it wouldn't go away. He screamed as the invading feeling returned. What had happened to him? Where was he? He grabbed whatever he was laying on and continued to scream in pain. He tried to look and see what was happening to him, but he barely saw anything but fuzzy shapes. He screamed as he felt his flesh being pulled.

"I don't want to have to do this to you Anakin. But if you're going to live I must. It's not easy saving someone's life when they had a lightsaber thrust into their chest."

What were they talking about? The fire burned faster as he felt his chest being torn into. He screamed again. What did he do to deserve this?

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Obi-Wan couldn't take hearing Anakin scream anymore. His comlink buzzed again. Padme was worried sick about Anakin, but how could he tell a pregnant woman that her husband was near death? No. If she knew or heard his screaming, she could go into early labor and loose the twins. He had given his word to Anakin that he would protect his family at all costs. He promptly shut his comlink off praying that the simple act wouldn't cause her any pain. He looked into the operating room where he saw Minga working on Anakin. He winced when Anakin used the force to shove everything away from him including Minga who hit the wall and machines pretty hard. Anakin was still screaming. He couldn't loose Anakin the way he lost Qui-Gon. A lightsaber through the chest wasn't easy to survive. He couldn't imagine the pain.

He turned to see Shmi sitting still and white as a sheet as she listened to Anakin's screams. She had finally stop being hysterical only to be still and silent. Obi-Wan couldn't imagine what she must be going through.

"He's in a lot of pain. I wish I could help him through it."

Obi-Wan turned to face Qui-Gon's ghost. "I can't loose him Master. Not like this," he said.

"Obi-Wan. Think positive. Anakin should be dead right about now, but he's not. There's a bigger plan at work here. Now I understand that Anakin and his wife are expecting twins. I suggest you go and give Padme the answers that she needs to know before something happens. Tell her that her husband is alive. I will stay and watch over Anakin," Qui-Gon instructed.

Obi-Wan turned away from him and glanced down into the operating room as Anakin's screams continued to echo through the medical bay. No doubt every jedi in the temple could hear him. Qui-Gon was right. He needed to take care of Anakin's family as he had promised to do. "I promised Anakin to take care of his family, to protect them if he should die. I only hope that I don't have to keep that promise," he said.

"Go," Qui-Gon urged.

At that moment Mace walked into the overhead view and sat down. "He better make it through this," Mace said to Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan weighed his options. Should he tell Mace where he was going? What suspicions would he arouse if he left? But he needed to get to Padme. He closed his eyes and listened to the force's guidance. But it was all a jumble of things. It was hard to decipher them.

Mace leaned over to Obi-Wan. "You, Master Yoda and I need to have a talk about the secret you decided to leave me out of," he told him.

"What secret?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Skywalker told me what was going on before he went ahead with his plan. I did not approve of his sacrificing himself fro the good of the galaxy and the order," Mace told him.

"I knew nothing of his sacrificing himself," Obi-Wan replied alarmed.

"I'm surprised," Mace said.

"Do I take it that you actually care about Anakin's well being?" Obi-Wan asked.

"It seems as though I have been wrong about your apprentice," Mace told him grudgingly.

It was with those words that clarity in the force came to Obi-Wan. "Will you stay with Shmi? There is someone else that needs to be here," he asked.

"Who?" Mace demanded.

"A close friend," Obi-Wan answered him. "Anakin would want her with him," he added.

Mace narrowed his eyes at him but nodded his consent. "Alright," he agreed.

"Thank you," Obi-Wan breathed and took Shmi's hand in his. "I will be back," he told her.

Shmi gave no indication that she had heard him. She just kept her focus on her son.

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If it weren't enough that his chest was on fire but it was being pulled apart as well. He screamed louder each time that the cool metal pulled at flesh, bone and tissue in his chest. The fire centered around the middle of his chest and continued outward burning his flesh and bone. This was torture! It was the only explanation he could think of. He had been captured by the enemy and instead of killing him, they had decided to torture him into insanity. Oh how the mighty has fallen! Anakin had withstood the cruel torture of Gardulla the Hutt from the time that he was walking up until the time that he was eight when Watto had won him and his mother in a bet. He could handle this. He had to. He screamed louder as something cold was stuffed inside his chest. Whatever it was, it wasn't supposed to be there! Surprised to find his arms free from binds, he began clawing at his chest ready to rip whatever that thing was out. Two slender but strong hands grabbed his wrists keeping him from his task. He struggled against the hold but whoever it was wouldn't back down.

"Anakin! You have to stop this! I'm not trying to hurt you! I don't want to hurt you! You'll die if you continue to fight me!"

Four metal claws grabbed his arms pulling them roughly to his side. He struggled against them trashing about. He screamed as he felt the fire turned to ice. No! He had heard about this! This is what he had done to Vader! He screamed. He couldn't die like this!

"Is it safe to sedate him now?!"

"His vitals are stronger than they were when he was brought in."

His blurred vision allowed him to see the blood filled syringe coming closer to him. There was no way in hell that he was going to let them stick that in him. Concentrating on the force he forced the syringe to shatter. Hopefully that was the last of it. He refused to go down without a fight.

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Obi-Wan had reached the Skywalker's apartment and allowed the retinal scan in the turbo lift to scan his eyes before he was cleared through the high tech security Anakin had put in months before. Within moments he was cleared to go with the security system identifying him. He punched in his code clearance before the turbo lift began to move. Unlike most turbo lifts, this one was speedy and he entered The Skywalker residence within moments.

"Welcome back Master Kenobi," The security system said announcing his arrival.

Obi-Wan paid the security system no attention as he continued into the apartment into the living room. "Padme, are you home?" he called. He reached out with his senses and realized that she was upstairs. He left the living room and walked into the foyer to climb the stairs. He found Padme standing out on the balcony in hers and Anakin's bedroom. She stood there staring fixedly into the horizon at the jedi temple where the smoke from the attack had cleared leaving the outside of the temple scorched. Many pilots died in that dogfight, many of them jedi. She stood there stiffly with one arm resting on her stomach while the other was raised so that her hand could cover her mouth. She had clearly witnessed the dogfight.

"Anakin wasn't fighting that battle, Padme," he assured her.

She knew of Anakin's piloting skills and how easily he could have been called to fight that battle. Unfortunately no one that he knew of who fought that battle over the temple had survived. Fortunately Anakin hadn't fought in it. Obi-Wan sucked in a breath as she turned to face him. Her eyes were vacant and puffy as though she were crying. How could he tell her that Anakin could die at any moment?

"Where is Anakin? Why hasn't he answered his comlink? Please Obi-Wan tell me that my husband is alive," she begged him.

"Anakin is alive," he said slowly. He saw the relief flow through her and he hated himself for having to continue. "I think it would be best if you sat down," he said at last.

"Something's wrong. I can see it in your eyes. Where's Anakin?" Padme asked.

"Padme, Anakin was seriously injured. He killed Chancellor Palpatine but not before the chancellor could plunge his lightsaber through Anakin's chest," he told her regretfully.

Padme shook her head as her fears became a reality. "No!" She cried. "Anakin! Oh gods please!"

Obi-Wan caught her before she hit the floor and she began banging her fist against him. "Where were you?! How could you let this happen to him?! He's your brother! How could have let him do this himself?! You knew that this would happen! Why wouldn't you stop him?!" she screamed.

Obi-Wan held her as she continued to fight him and scream at him, blaming him. He knew that she was right to blame him. He could have stopped this from happening. He was supposed to be there. He had planned on being there. But Anakin had outsmarted him. Anakin was too stubborn to let him help him. Why couldn't he see what Anakin was planning? He had failed his brother.

"You were supposed to stop him!" Padme screamed and then clutched her stomach and cried out in pain. Suddenly her screams of anguish turned to those of fear and pain.

Obi-Wan looked down just in time for a pool of blood and liquid to form around Padme's feet.

Padme screamed in pain and looked at him in fear. "No! I can't loose them too!" she cried.

Obi-Wan acted quickly. "You won't loose the twins Padme, not on my watch," he told her picking her up in his arms and hurried out of the apartment as fast as he could heading straight for the garage where Anakin's speeder waited. Even if Anakin did die, his children would live, he will make sure of that.

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Minga was sure now that Anakin would live, the only problem that presented itself of getting in the way of his healing was the fact that the trauma of his injury had put him in panic which was increased due the surgery she had to perform on him without being able to sedate him. The fact the he felt the whole thing only added to the trauma.

"Hold him still, especially his head!" she ordered the droids who complied at once.

As long as he couldn't see to know what to fight, she could try sedate him again. She's was going by a different rout this time. Anakin continued to fight against his captors thrashing about on the operating table. She had to be extra careful. Until he was completely healed, she had to keep him unconscious.

"Forgive me Anakin, but this is for your own good," she said. She pulled out a syringe filled with a black liquid. For his own good, she had to put him into a healing coma. "You've given me no choice. Once you're fully healed, I'll bring you out of it. I promise," she told him injecting him in the arm with the syringe. He fought against it but soon the drug began to take effect and he went limp. Her heart broke at seeing him so still. He was never this still. "Vitals?" she asked the droids.

"Growing stronger," the droid monitoring the screen told her.

Minga nodded. "Make sure that he's comfortable," she ordered.

Before the droids could move Anakin out of the room the doors burst open. Minga turned sharply at the intrusion to see Obi-Wan burst into the room with Padme screaming in his arms.

"The twins," Obi-Wan told her quickly.

Fear gripped Minga for the second time in three hours. "Set her down here," she said indicating the other operating table.

"Anakin!" Padme screamed when she caught sight of her husband laying still with a large hole through his chest.

"He's alive," Minga quickly told her. "He's going to be fine Padme, trust me," she reassured the woman who she had grown close to. She set to seeing what was wrong with her when Obi-Wan had set her down on the table. "I'll have to induce labor if the twins are going to survive," she quickly said frowning. She turned to a droid and gave it her orders. "Quickly sedate her!"

The droids made quick work in giving Padme some sedative drugs to ease the pain. Padme barely felt the drugs taking affect as she reached out her hand for Anakin. But a rather strong contraction hit her hard and she screamed in pain before the sedatives took full affect.

"Obi-Wan, help her sit up, this isn't going to be easy," Minga ordered. Obi-Wan quickly complied helping Padme sit up by sitting behind her. Ming quickly positioned herself between Padme's legs ready to deliver the babies. "On the count of three, Padme, push as hard as you can," she said. Padme nodded breathing hard.

Minga began counting slowly and when she got to three Padme gritted her teeth and pushed as hard as she could before crying out Anakin's name.

"You're doing good Padme, now keep pushing," Minga told her. She met Obi-Wan's gaze and nodded to him, silently telling him to be prepared for the first shock waves in the force to come.

When the first babie's cry filled the room, Padme leaned back into Obi-Wan and took deep breaths. Minga handed the newborn baby boy to a medical droid. "It's a boy," she said.

The medical droid brought the newborn child over to his mother who gently reached out her hand to gently stroke the baby's round cheek. "Luke," she breathed before another contraction hit her.

"You only have one more to go, Padme," Minga said bracing herself for the next baby. The last twin came sooner than the first, obviously not going to be out done by it's brother. Minga held the precious child and smiled to the mother. "You have both a boy and a girl," he told her and brought the child over to her mother.

Padme reached out to her daughter and smiled. "Leia. Anakin wanted her name to be Leia," she said just before she closed her eyes and dropped against Obi-Wan.

Minga quickly handed Leia over to the second medical droid and rushed over to Padme's side. "She's hemorrhaging!" she called.

"What does that mean?" Obi-Wan asked alarmed.

"It means that she's loosing blood, fast. If I don't stop her from bleeding, then she could die," Minga told him.

"Then hurry up!" Obi-Wan told her gently laying Padme down so that Minga could keep Anakin from loosing his wife.

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Mace sat in the council chambers with the rest of the high council members for the first time since the start of the clone wars. Everyone was here now due to the important decisions and topics that needed to be discussed now that the war was over and that the sith were destroyed. The fact that the one responsible for the end of the sith was now recovering from that battle didn't escape any of the members. In fact that was the first thing or rather person that was to be discussed.

Anakin Skywalker's secret was now out. The fact that Skywalker had been deceiving them for the past four years was unthinkable. That he had broken the code and married Senator Amidala. And they were parents.

"I move for an immediate removal from the order!" Saesee Tiin called.

"On what grounds? Anakin preformed his duty all these years, he did not let his personal attachments get in the way of that nor did he allow it to bring him into darkness," Obi-Wan defended his friend.

"I think that _your_ attachment to your former padawan is getting in the way of your judgment, Master Kenobi," Coleman Kcaj said addressing Obi-Wan.

"He has a point," Stass Allie said interrupting. "Anakin preformed his duty to his fullest, we must give him that much credit."

"Even so, he broke the jedis most sacred code, we cannot ignore that," Ki-Adi-Mundi said.

"Certainly we can come to a middle ground on this," Shaak Ti said.

"The jedi code clearly states that emotional attachments are forbidden. How would it be fair if we bent that rule for Skywalker but not any other jedi?" Plo Koon asked speaking up.

"You have a valid point," Obi-Wan said neither agreeing or disagreeing. "But Anakin is no ordinary jedi," he pointed out.

Mace brought his clasped hands to his forehead briefly and then looked around the room."He is the chosen one, we cannot expel him from the order," he said. All eyes turned to Mace on this.

"Chosen one or not, we cannot let him get away with breaking the code!" Saesee Tiin said.

"And Vader? Forget not about Darth Vader will we. Dangerous it could be to expel Anakin Skywalker," Master Yoda said speaking up. The was a grumbling around the room after this statement. Each council member was aware of Anakin second personality. Each was aware of how close Vader came to coming out and becoming dominant.

"Then what shall we do?" Shaak Ti asked.

Mace, Obi-Wan and Master Yoda exchanged a look. finally they looked at the rest of the council members. "We have come up with a solution. We shall put Skywalker on probation. He will work in the temple training younglings in flight classes and lightsaber classes. As well as mechanics," Mace told them.

"It sounds like a logical solution," Stass Allie said slowly.

There was a mumbling around the chamber. Each were aware of Skywalker's radical viewpoint concerning the force and the code. Neither wanted that to be taught to the younglings.

"I admit, Anakin has some different opinions on the order and the code, he even sees it differently than we do. But he _is_ a dedicated jedi. He is dedicated to the order and all that we stand for," Obi-Wan said.

"And how long will this probation last?" Agen Kolar asked.

"Until further notice it shall be. When the council decides to lift it we will," Master Yoda said. There was a mumbled of agreement around the council. Each knew that it was already decided. Anakin Skywalker would be closely watched form now on.

--------------------------------------------------

Baxter didn't think he was alive when he opened eyes. There was a bright light but as he adjusted to the light all he could see was blurry shapes. "What happened? Where am I?" he called out.

A blurry shape moved into his line of vision and he braced himself for what was to come. "Baxter, thank the force!" Minga cried.

"Minga? Sithspit! What kind of drugs do you have me on cause it's affecting my vision?" Baxter asked.

He felt her take his hands. "Do you remember the crash?" she asked.

Baxter frowned. "Somewhat. Why? And why won't you tell me what you put me on?" he asked.

"Baxter, you had several shards of glass in your eyes. I'm sorry but your eyesight was damaged. There's nothing that I can do," Minga told him brokenly.

Baxter snatched his hands from her. "No!" he snapped. "That's frak! You're the best healer there is! You fix this Minga!" he yelled

"I can't! There isn't any technology that can repair your eyes. If I do anything to them the damage could get worse," Minga told him.

Baxter couldn't see her tears but he knew that she was crying. He didn't want her pity. "No! You're lying!" he snapped. But he knew that she would never lie to him. She wouldn't. There was nothing that could be done. "I didn't do anything to deserve this! I DON'T DESERVE THIS!" he screamed pounding the bed he was laying in with his fists.

He couldn't see properly. What kind of jedi was he now? He could never fly again. How could he fly again if he could barely see? He would never again be asked to fight in battle. What kind of life would he have now?

----------------------------------------------------

Anakin opened his eyes and groaned after seeing intense light before he felt a slight pain in his chest. He wasn't prepared to be smothered to death. He hissed from some slight pain when he felt pressure on his chest. The pressure lifted off of him.

"Anakin Skywalker don't you ever scare me like that again!"

"Sorry Mom," Anakin said shifting into another more comfortable position.

Shmi regarded him for a moment and Anakin saw her hands fly to her mouth. "You almost died!" she said and quickly composed herself. "Would it be asking too much if I asked you to leave the jedi order?" she asked clasping his hands.

Anakin looked her in the eyes. "You would be asking me to deny who I am," he told her. He averted his gaze to look out the window. The city of Coruscant buzzed about. The galaxy was safe. But at what cost? Somehow he felt a new enemy would emerge. He knew. It wasn't over. "I think that I may be asked to leave anyway," he whispered. "But I will never stop being a jedi," he vowed fiercely.

Shmi sat down on the edge on the bed and held his hands. "You were out for weeks, I feared that you would never wake up," she said.

Anakin looked back at her. "I'm kinda cursed with staying alive," he told her with a smile.

"Don't joke about this Anakin," Shmi snapped sharply.

"Too soon, I guess," Anakin said and stopped smiling.

"When I saw them bring you in, I thought for sure that you were dead. You weren't moving and you were pale as a sheet with this hole in your chest. I couldn't take it," Shmi told him.

Anakin didn't know what to say to that. How could he reassure his mother that it wouldn't happen again when he knew that these kind of things happened to jedi? Luckily he was saved from answering when Minga walked in. She looked like she had been crying, but she quickly composed herself upon seeing Anakin.

"Oh good, You're awake!" Minga exclaimed rushing over to him. "I've now lost count on how much you owe me, Anakin," she told him.

"Twenty. I owe you twenty times," Anakin told her.

Minga shook her head. "How do you keep everything inside that head of yours? I thought your ego was the only thing that could fit inside you," she replied with a smile.

"Are you saying that I have an over inflated ego? Because that was really bad," Anakin replied.

"Don't blame us for not having a way with words like you seem to," Minga told him.

Anakin smiled. "It _has_ come in handy," he said. "How long have I been out?" he asked.

"About four weeks," Minga told him. "I had to put you in a healing coma so that you would live."

"And Padme? How is she?" Anakin asked.

"She's recovering," Minga told him.

"Recovering from what?" Anakin asked concerned.

"She had the twins, Ani. It was a very difficult ordeal for her," Shmi told him.

"Difficult how?" Anakin asked.

"She started hemorrhaging shortly after Leia was born. I managed to stop it, but she is still a little weak," Minga told him.

"You want to see them, don't you, Ani?" Shmi asked.

"Yes," Anakin said throwing the covers back but Minga stopped him.

"Not so fast," Minga told him. "You had a lightsaber thrust through your chest, Anakin, you are still recovering yourself."

"You will not keep me from seeing them," Anakin told her defiantly.

"And I wont," Minga told him. "Just stay put for now."

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Hoverchairs were in need of improvement if they wanted to be fun, Anakin decided as he maneuvered into his wife's room who sat up in bed reading over a datapad. He cleared his throat gaining Padme's attention.

Padme beamed at him. "Ani, you're awake!" she called.

"And apparently too weak to walk, but I guess I have a new project," Anakin told her.

"Don't do something stupid to that chair," Padme told him.

"I wont do anything stupid," Anakin told her as he moved the chair up next to her.

"You wont be doing _anything_ on my watch," Minga said coming in after him with the four week old twins.

"And what will you expect me to do while I'm stuck in bed, again?" Anakin asked.

"Play with your children," Ming told him pulling up the twins bassinet next to their parents. She placed Luke in his arms.

Anakin looked down at his son who opened up his eyes, and fixed them on his father. Anakin knew that the Luke and Leia that he knew would probably not exist in this universe but it didn't mean that he loved them any less. Gingerly he caressed Luke's cheek. "You'll be one hell f a jedi one day," he said to his son.

"Don't tell me that you are already planning their future," Obi-Wan said coming into the room.

Anakin grinned at his master. "Why not?" he asked.

"Perhaps you should let them decide," Obi-Wan said.

"Luke wants to be a jedi, I foresee him being a jedi," Anakin replied.

"And what about Leia?" Padme asked.

Anakin accepted his daughter in his hands after Obi-Wan took Luke. "Leia could be anything she wants. Whether or not she wants to be a jedi or a politician," he said and Leia opened her eyes to look at him. Looking into her eyes, he could already see the determined look in her eyes, the same that he remembered Princess Leia having. "Isn't that right, Princess, you want to be both then, don't you?" he whispered.

"Princess?" Padme asked raising an eyebrow.

"She is the daughter of a queen, is she not?" Anakin asked looking at his wife.

"Former queen, Ani," Padme corrected.

"Once a queen, always a queen," Anakin told her.

"It seems as though you have what you wanted, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "A family and the life of a jedi," he told him.

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked.

"The council has decided that you would remain a jedi, but you will be under probation until further notice," Obi-Wan told him.

"Probation?" Anakin asked not liking the idea.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes, Anakin. Your new duties are training younglings in lightsaber class, flight classes and mechanics," he told him.

"So I'm a temple jedi, now. How convenient," Anakin said flatly.

"Look at it this way, Anakin. You now have more time to devote to your family," Minga told him.

"It's a good thing, Ani. I received word form the queen a week ago, she wants me to continue serving Naboo as her senator and with the mess that Palpatine left, I will need you to be home with the twins," Padme told him.

"I said that it was convenient, didn't I," Anakin told them.

Don't worry, Anakin. You will be relieved of probation once the council gets over your disregard for the code," Obi-Wan assured him.

"I'm fine with it for now though. Just as long as the peace remains," Anakin told them.

Obi-Wan placed a hand on Anakin's shoulders. "It's marveling how mature you have gotten, Anakin. I am proud of you," he said.

"Thank you, Master," Anakin said.

"I think this excitement is enough for you right now, Anakin. It is time for you to get back into bed," Minga told him.

"I'm not leaving yet," Anakin told her.

"You don't have to, I've brought bed in here for you," Minga told him indicating the second bed.

Anakin smirked. "You're lucky," he said to his friend.

"Just get into bed," Minga told him, taking Leia from his arms and placing her in the bassinet next to Luke.

"I think that we should leave them alone for now," Obi-Wan said to Minga who nodded. After getting Anakin back into bed, they left the room, leaving the Skywalker family alone.

"This is the beginning to a new life," Padme said.

"And it is only going to get better from now on, I promise you," Anakin told her.

"It is already better," Padme told him.


	52. Epilogue

Epilogue

Four months later:

Anakin finished his first youngling class shortly before midday. It was a class consisting of three clans each. Each youngling showed a higher level of lightsaber use than other clans. It wasn't easy teaching the younglings, not as he had expected. Several younglings asked question about the sith lords he had killed or his exploits during the war. When he had gotten them to stop asking questions that didn't pertain to the subject at hand, he found the younglings treating him as they had when he was a teenager and he would kidnap them to play. It took just over two hours to get them in the right mindset to actually _learn_ what he had to teach them.

Anakin rubbed his face with his left hand as he left the classroom. His probation was going to be long and tedious. The council knew what they were doing when they gave him their punishment. He was grateful to have remained a jedi, yes, but now he had something dreadful to look forward to as a parent. Yes, his _punishment_ was very fitting.

Anakin walked into the cafeteria and picked up a serving tray, picking out some different foods before giving his identification number to the serving droid at the end before leaving the serving line. He skipped the different pentagon shaped tables and walked right out of the cafeteria. Down the hall he took a lift and proceeded towards the twentieth floor. The fourth dormitory floor. He walked down the different halls until he stopped at door LG4769. He knocked briefly before punching in the code that was given to him long ago and walked in. "Hey, Bax. I've brought you some food," he said squinting in the darkness. "It's a little dark in here, I'm turning the lights on so that I can see," he said.

"Don't bother," came Baxter's bitter reply.

"Don't be absurd, you're not totally blind, you don't have to live in darkness," Anakin told him turning on the lights. He then saw Baxter sitting alone in the corner. The furniture had been moved around some so that no one could bump into them. It wasn't that much of a necessity because Baxter could see where shapes were.

"I might as well be," Baxter snapped.

Anakin set the tray of food down on a table next to the chair that Baxter was sitting in. "I've brought you your favorites. Sauteed bantha strips with mushrooms and caligula rice over sprouts," he said ignoring Baxter's bitterness.

"I don't want it," Baxter snapped reaching over to swipe the tray off of the table.

Anakin quickly used the force to avoid a mess, forcing the food to stay on the dishes and for the dishes to land in mid air. He then used the force to set them back down on the table safely. "You have to eat, Bax," he told him.

"I'm not taking anything from _you_," Baxter spat.

"What are you talking about? I'm your friend Bax, I'm here to help you," Anakin told him.

Baxter laughed bitterly. "_Friend_? Friend! E Chu Ta _Skywalker_!" he spat.

Anakin frowned at the harsh insult. An insult that _he_ had taught him years ago. "I'm going to let that slide on the account that you're feeling pretty bad right now," he said evenly.

Baxter fixed his cloudy eyes on Anakin. "_You_ are no friend of mine. As far as I am concerned, you are nothing but a _shag_ and I'm a hutt. You could have died and I would not care one bit," He said bitterly.

"Don't even try it. Whatever you choose to say to me will not push me away. I'm your friend and I'm going to help you through this," Anakin told him adamently.

"Then you must be really stupid because I don't want your stench anywhere near me. You make me sick!" Baxter yelled.

"What about me makes you sick all of a sudden?" Anakin challenged.

"I know about you and Senator Amidala! Everyone knows! It astounds me that the council didn't expel you! You are nothing but a two faced double crossing lier! You are unworthy of the title jedi knight!" Baxter yelled.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at Baxter. "Unworthy?! I'm the one who saved us all form annihilation! Or have you forgotten that?! I'm the one who saw Palpatine for what he was before it became too late!" he snapped.

"You were friends with a sith lord! You could have been conspiring against us before you had a change of heart!" Baxter snapped. "Further more, you _caused_ order sixty six!" he accused.

"Caused?! I tried to stop it! It failed because we were prepared!" Anakin told him.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Baxter roared.

Anakin tightened his jaw. "Fine, I will leave for now, but I'll be back. Whether you believe it or not, I _am_ your friend. Once you've cooled down and pulled yourself out of your self pity, you'll see that," he told him calmly before leaving.

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Jerrome Skywalker the three hundredth duke of Ictly on Alderaan wasn't shocked by much. He had seen too much in his eighty fifth years. But when his great granddaughter Elaina began slicing through the holonet at age five, he was rather shocked. During the clone wars, Elaina became obsessed with the hero without fear, jedi knight Anakin Skywalker. Jerrome thought it just a coincidence that the jedi shared his family name. He told Elaina as much. Jerrome was busy working on the family accounts when Elaina burst into the room, her red brown curls bouncing around her head.

"Papa Jerrome, come see what I've found!" the ten year old said grabbing Jerrome's hand and pulling him out of his seat.

"What is it now Sweets?" Jerrome asked.

"I found something really cool!" Elaina said excitedly pulling Jerrome over to the holonet where she punched in a code. Instantly security holos of the chancellors office on Coruscant came up. It was an old one, about three months ago. Jerrome could tell because they showed Chancellor Palpatine sitting in a chair when suddenly five jedi came in. Jerrome watched as the jedi proclaimed that the Chancellor was under arrest. But the security moved to show another jedi approaching the window by air speeder. Jerrome watched as the black cloaked jedi sliced open the window shattering it. He watched as the jedi lowered his hood revealing Anakin Skywalker. The other jedi left leaving Skywalker and the Chancellor alone. Jerrome watched the fight that began in the chancellor's office and into the senate arena. Until finally the Chancellor was dead. Jerrome saw the look of disgust and relief that crossed Skywalker's face before he shoved the Chancellor's body off of him and out of the senate pod that he was in. That's when the security holo shut off.

"Isn't that cool Papa Jerrome? It's all over the holonet!" Elaina said brightly.

"Yes, cool," Jerrome said. Inside he was thinking about how deadly of an opponent Anakin Skywalker was.

Weeks later Elaina interrupted Jerrome again waving a piece of flimsy around. "Papa Jerrome look at what I found!" she called excitedly. She handed Jerrome the flimsy which he knew that Elaina had printed out for her Anakin Skywalker scrapbook. Jerrome put his datapad down and took the flimsy reading about Anakin Skywalker's private background biography that he knew Elaina had sliced through into the jedi files to get. In it, it said that Anakin Skywalker had lived his first nine years of life as a slave on Tatooine with his mother Shmi Skywalker. Jerrome froze as he read that. He was no longer convinced of the coincidence that Anakin Skywalker just happened to share his families name. He was Shmi's son. He had finally found his lost daughter.

"Elaina. Get your grandmother and tell her to start packing, we're going to Coruscant," he said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Welcome home Knight Skywalker!"

Anakin ignored the security system and walked into the living room before dropping on the couch. He was now convinced that the younglings at the temple were going to kill him. He pinched his now scorched pants which now sported holes from where the younglings hit him with training sabers. That was the beginning of the day. After the midday meal, the younglings in flight class damaged the training ships as well as his own. Several had disappeared for an hour. In the mechanics maintenance class, the youngling had thrown parts at him. Anakin now sported a lump on the back of his head.

He had already had a headache but when a babies cry erupted, it got worse. Anakin groaned and sunk deeper into the couch. "It's never going to end," he whined.

"Ani?" Shmi called walked into the living room with Luke in her arms. "What happened to you?" she asked concerned.

"Attack of the younglings happened to me," Anakin told her wisely.

Shmi frowned. "Don't bring an attitude home with you," she told him flatly.

"Sorry, Mom," Anakin said and sat up straight. "I don't suppose that I can have some alone time then?" he asked.

"Sorry, Ani. You're job has just begun," Shmi told him putting Luke in his arms. "Play with your son, he's been searching for you all day," she told him.

Anakin held the child away at arms length and stared him in the eye. "You're not going to cause me any trouble will you?" he asked. Luke replied with a little gurgle. "I'll take that as a 'no' then since my day is pretty much shot," Anakin muttered.

Shmi shook her head as she walked out of the room leaving father and son alone.

Anakin slowly let go of the child using the force to suspend him in mid air. Luke clapped his little hands together and made happy baby sounds. Anakin dipped Luke up and down gently knowing how much Luke enjoyed "flying". It was as Anakin played with Luke that Padme walked in looking haggard.

"Bad day as well?" Anakin asked.

Padme plopped down next to Anakin in a very undignified way. She kicked off her shoes and rested her feet on the coffee table. Anakin raised an eyebrow at this. Padme always snapped at _him_ for doing the same thing. "We've been trying to bring back the Confederacy of Independent Systems through negotiations. Even with Count Dooku gone, his influence still remains. I'm worried that the war will continue even with the separatists leaders locked up," Padme told him.

Anakin put Luke down in the play pin next to the couch so that he could give his wife his attention while keeping an eye out for Luke. "We just can't let that happen. Surely with Mon Mothma as the new chancellor, they will see that we are trying to fix things here. Surely they know that Dooku and Palpatine were sith lords working together," he replied.

"The negotiations have been in progress for months and we haven't gotten anywhere," Padme told him.

"It's going to take time to fix the mess that Palpatine and Dooku left," Anakin reasoned. "We just have to have faith that an alliance _can_ occur at all. In time down the road, the Republic will be whole again, I have foreseen it," he told her confidently.

Padme smiled. "You've foreseen it?" she asked and then chuckled. "Have you foreseen Luke lifting himself out of that play pin?" she asked.

Anakin quickly turned around in time to prevent Luke from falling on the hard floor. "He's too young to do this!" he complained.

"They do seem a little advanced at their age," Padme agreed taking Luke from Anakin's arms.

"Is this normal though?" Anakin questioned.

Padme frowned. "I don't know. I wasn't exactly around much when Sola's kids were this young," she answered.

"Mom!" Anakin called.

"Honestly Anakin, you can't keep coming to me to take care of your kids," Shmi told him taking Leia out with her. "Oh hello, Padme," she said upon seeing Padme who now held Luke.

"You're the expert on force sensitive babies," Anakin told his mother.

"I had one child to take care of. That doesn't make me an expert," Shmi told him.

"You know more than I do," Anakin told her. Shmi huffed.

"Perhaps we should take lessons from the crèche master at the temple," Padme suggested.

"I've tried that. Donna Mortee doesn't particularly like me enough to consider assisting me," Anakin told her.

"Perhaps it's you attitude," Shmi told him.

Anakin frowned. "What attitude?" he demanded.

"That one," Padme replied.

Anakin crossed his arms. "I've had a bad day, I'm entitled to a little attitude," he said flatly.

"I've had a bad day too, Ani. Or have you forgotten what the senate is like lately?" Padme told him.

"You're right, we've both had bad days, lets just try to make the rest of it better," Anakin conceded.

"I still can't get over how much you've changed in the past two years," Padme said shaking her head.

"Sometimes change is better," Anakin replied taking Leia from Shmi's arms. Leia took one look at him and instantly reached for Padme. Anakin frowned. "She doesn't want me, she never does," he said.

"That's nonsense, Anakin," Padme told him.

"Then why does she cry or reach for someone else when I hold her?" Anakin asked. "It's like she's afraid of me," he added.

"You're being paranoid," Shmi chastised him.

Leia reached for Padme again and started whimpering.

"See! She does this every time!" Anakin said.

"I'm sure that there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for it," Padme dismissed handing Luke to Shmi and reached for Leia.

Anakin held Leia out of her reach and pulled the child closer to him. "No, that's part of the problem," he told her. Leia whimpered some more.

"Now you're being childish, she probably wants to be fed," Padme told him.

Anakin looked Leia in the eye and used the force to deduct what she wanted. "That's not it," he replied confidently.

Padme sighed. "Have it your way then," she said and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Anakin asked as she picked up her shoes.

"I'm going to take a bath," Padme told him.

"I'll join you," Anakin said standing up.

Padme smiled. "A relaxing bath, Ani," she told him.

"Who said that it wouldn't be relaxing?" Anakin challenged.

Padme laughed. "I think I'll relax by myself this time," she told him. "Besides, I thought that you wanted to bond with _your_ daughter."

Anakin sat back down defeated. "Fine, but I get my turn later on," he conceded.

"It's amazing how easy you make it look," Shmi said to Padme as they left the twins in Anakin's charge.

Padme smiled. "I sometimes amaze myself," she concurred. "I don't know how I came in possession of this power, but I'm the only one who could tame him," she said shaking her head.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Obi-Wan was surprised when a duke from Alderaan came to the temple demanding to see Anakin. At first he put them off believing that he just wanted to shake The Hero Without Fear's hand or have a holo taken of him and Anakin or something of the sort. But the duke became more insistent. Obi-Wan refused to get the council involved in this. He was determined to handle this himself. But when the duke brought his daughter around, Obi-Wan thought that he had tracked down Shmi and forced the poor woman to help him. But that thought was squashed by reasoning. Why come to Obi-Wan with Shmi when he could go straight to Anakin? The whole situation was perplexing. But when the woman resembling Shmi spoke, he knew that she was just a Shmi Skywalker look alike. And Obi-Wan's defenses were now up. Could they be trying to manipulate Anakin? It was by the twentieth time that they came calling on the temple that Obi-Wan decided to hear their story, which was incredible. Obi-Wan had spent a month checking with their story and each time, he came up with the same conclusion. They spoke the truth.

Obi-Wan stepped off the turbo lift that lead into the Skywalker apartment and walked into the entrance hall stopping at the fountain. He turned to his two companions. "Wait here," he instructed. He then looked up the stirs and knew that Anakin wasn't upstairs. He continued into the apartment through the empty living room and dining room into the kitchen where he froze at the doorway. His eyes bugged out at the sight. Anakin was peering at a datapad on the counter stirring something in a bowl. But that wasn't what bothered Obi-Wan the most. It was the purple frilly apron the Anakin was wearing!

"What are you doing?" Obi-Wan asked making the younger jedi turn to look at him.

"Baking cookies," Anakin said simply as though this was normal for him.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "You bake? Since when?" he asked.

"Since today," Anakin said brightly.

Obi-Wan shook his head again. "Come on, you have a couple people out in the hall that you're going to want to meet. And take off the frilly apron," he said.

Anakin looked at him quizzically. "Who?" he asked and then narrowed his eyes. "Why would you bring them here?"

"Just come along, Anakin," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin took off the apron and set it down on the counter before following Obi-Wan out of the kitchen and to the entrance hall. Two people dressed in a noble attire stood there examining the painting of the Naberrie family lake retreat. One man and one woman. Obi-Wan cleared his throat and the woman turned around and looked at them. It was his mother, but then it wasn't. The way she looked at him was like she was looking at a stranger.

The man stepped forward and looked Anakin up and down. "You must be Anakin. I'm Lord Jerrome Skywalker of Alderaan," he said he motioned to the woman. "This is my daughter, Shilia," he said. The woman stepped forward and for a moment Anakin thought she was his mother again, but his mother was shopping with Threepio at the moment.

"Their story checks out Anakin. I looked into it myself," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin continued to look at the woman. She looked exactly like his mother. Exactly! The woman blinked under Anakin's intense stare and he shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's just that you look exactly like my mother," he said which made the woman smile.

"I should. Shmi Skywalker is my twin sister," the woman said.

Jerrome Skywalker sniffed the air. "Is something burning?" he asked.

Anakin let out a slew of colorful curses in huttiese before dashing back to the kitchen. Obi-Wan turned to Skywalkers. "If you'll allow me, there is a table and chairs in the kitchen," he said. Jerrome nodded and Obi-Wan lead them into the kitchen.

Jerrome and Shilia were quite shocked to see the mechanical hand that held a hot pan of what appeared to be cookies out of the oven and onto the counter. Shilia looked to the left of the table were a bassinet sat. Peering in she saw two sleeping babies curled up together.

"Does anyone want a cookie?"

Shilia turned away from the sleeping babies and looked over at the middle counter to see Anakin standing behind it.

"If you made them Anakin, then no thank you. I don't want to die yet," Obi-Wan said. Anakin stuck out his tongue at Obi-Wan very briefly making Shilia smile. It appeared that Anakin was a lively person to do something so childish. "That's real mature, Anakin. Where did you learn that one?" Obi-Wan asked dryly.

"Pooja," Anakin said and with Obi-Wan's blank look he explained. "Padme's youngest niece," he said.

"Shouldn't you be teaching the child responsibility and maturity rather than learning antics like that from a child. You're a father now Anakin, you need to grow up some more," Obi-Wan said.

"I'm not going to become a stick in the mud like you have become," Anakin said and grinned at the fellow jedi. "Besides, _you_ need to have some more fun."

Jerrome cleared his throat making the two jedi turn to him.

"Right," Anakin said. He turned around and opened a cabinet and pulled out four glasses at the same time the refrigerator unit opened and a tall jug of bribb juice came floating out making Jerrome and Shilia stare in wonder. Anakin grabbed the pitcher as it floated over to him and poured the blue liquid into the glasses. "What's your story?" he asked them.

"My granddaughter is a huge fan of yours, Anakin. She's extremely smart for her age. She sliced through the holonet for any extra information on you and found out your complete background history, including your early years as a slave and your mother's name. When we learned that you were Shmi's son, we were so excited to have finally found her. We were hoping that we could see both you and her," Shilia said.

Anakin stiffened as he finished pouring the drinks. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that you can't see my mother," he said.

"And why however can I not see my daughter! Do you know how much money I have spent searching for her only to come up empty?!" Jerrome demanded outraged.

"Not particularly but I'm sure that you're going to tell me anyway," Anakin replied.

"Anakin, try to keep yourself in check. You're not protecting Shmi from murderers," Obi-Wan interrupted.

Anakin looked from Jerrome and Shilia. "If you tell me your story, I'll consider bringing you to my mother,"he said calmly.

"Where do you want me to start?" Jerrome asked.

"How did my mother become a slave?" Anakin asked bluntly and accusingly.

Shilia looked troubled at the question. "She was kidnapped when we were five years old," she said.

"We hired as many people we could to find her, for years we searched for her. But we were never able to find her. My wife never forgave herself for loosing Shmi. About ten years ago she finally gave up hope and died shortly after," Jerrome said.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Anakin said. He looked at both Shilia and Jerrome for a moment. Before looking at Obi-Wan. He had heard their story once before already. He wouldn't bring them here if they weren't speaking the truth. Anakin looked back at Jerrome before looking at Shilia's sad face. The face of his mother. "If it makes you feel better, my mother hasn't been a slave for twelve years. She lived eight happy years as a moisture farmer's wife on Tatooine before he died." he told them.

Shilia smiled a little at the thought of her sister being happy. "Is she happy now?" she asked sounding hopeful.

Anakin nodded. "I make sure of it," he answered.

At that moment Luke began to whimper. Anakin stood up and walked over to the bassinet where he picked Luke up. The baby quieted down once he was in his fathers arms. Anakin knew that Luke would start whimpering again if he set him down and then Leia would wake up. Anakin sat back down at the table with Luke in his arms. Luke looked around the table with wide blue eyes, so much like his fathers and focused on the two strangers.

"What's his name?" Shilia asked smiling at the baby.

"Luke," Anakin said. Luke looked at his father briefly upon hearing his name before looking back at the strangers. Anakin nodded to the bassinet where Leia still slept. "And the one still sleeping is Leia."

"Twins. Twins ran in my wives family, she was a twin herself," Jerrome said and smiled lightly at Luke who looked at his father questionably, before his eyes widened and he cooed. It was a sight that many would love to take a holo of due to Anakin's fame as the hero without fear in the galaxy. It was a sight that warmed Jerrome from the inside. Jerrome wasn't kidding himself when he thought of the idea of Anakin being a dangerous opponent, that much was clear after the security holos of Chancellor Palpatine's death at the hands of Anakin were leaked out over the holonet. But to see the strong and powerful jedi holding his baby son made one's thoughts of how deadly of an opponent he was fly out the window just at the tenderness of the picture.

Anakin looked up from his son and looked at Obi-Wan. "Padme's home," he said.

"Really? I didn't sense her walk in," Obi-Wan said.

"She's outside the building," Anakin told him. "Now she's boarding the lift."

Jerrome and Shilia looked at the two jedi confused. They didn't sense what Anakin was and didn't know how Anakin knew these things. "What are you talking about?" Jerrome asked.

"Jedi senses, we can sense when others are near among other things. Anakin's senses are much stronger than mine, or any other jedi's," Obi-Wan explained.

Anakin looked up from Luke and out the doorway to the kitchen as the sound of heals could be heard on the marble floor. Moments later Padme entered the kitchen and Anakin stood up to greet her with a kiss. "You're home early," he told her.

"I had to get out of there. You know ever since you killed the Palpatine the senate is in chaos. You couldn't wait until the senate has some reign of control?" Padme replied.

"Stopping a sith lord is a delicate procedure. I had to take what opening that I could. In the end the Republic is in a better state," Anakin told her.

Padme took Luke from his arms and walked over to where the recently baked cookies sat on the pan. "Who baked cookies?" she asked changing the subject.

"I did," Anakin told her.

"I didn't know you baked," Padme told him.

"I just took it up today," Anakin told her.

Padme looked at him for a moment. "You do realize that baking is harder than cooking . It's more like an art form. It takes real skill and a lot of practice. You have to be very precise when doing it," she said

"I did fine," Anakin told her and to emphasize his point he picked up a cookie and took a bit then made a face. He slowly swallowed and set the cookie down. "I will perfect this," he said determinedly.

"You can't be perfect Ani," Padme told him smiling.

"I can try," Anakin said.

That's when Leia began to whimper and cry. Anakin walked over to the bassinet and picked up his daughter. Cradling her in his arms he slowly began to rock her. "Shhh, Princess," he said softly. He tried to read her mind to see what she wanted with the force and frowned. "She doesn't want me," he said and looked at Padme. "She wants her mother," he said and switched babies with Padme. Instantly Leia calmed down.

"I don't know why she only calms down for you and never for me," Anakin said frowning.

"Maybe she's just a mommies girl," Padme told him.

"That's not it," Anakin told her.

"You mustn't forget that Luke and Leia are both strongly in tuned with the force, they can sense things that others cannot," Obi-Wan told them.

Anakin turned to Obi-Wan sharply. "You don't think that she could sense..._him_, do you?" he asked emphasizing the word 'him' so that only Padme and Obi-Wan would know what exactly he was asking.

"That is one possibility. There a number of things that she could be sensing, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him.

"Have we become invisible?" Jerrome asked irritably.

"Father, it wasn't intentional," Shilia said placing a hand on her father's arm.

Padme turned to them suddenly noticing the guests. "I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to ignore you," she apologized.

Jerrome stood up. "I am Lord Jerrome Skywalker, the three hundredth Duke of Ictly from the planet of Alderaan," he said introducing himself.

"I'm Senator Padme Amidala of Naboo," Padme said and shook Jerrome's hand.

"Amidala? Are you related to the former Queen Amidala who defended her planet from the trade federation?" Jerrome asked interested.

Padme smiled. "I _am_ the former Queen Amidala," she said.

"A queen in the family, this is good news. It seems that my grandson married in a respectable station above him," Jerrome said approvingly.

"Your grandson?" Padme asked.

"He means me," Anakin told her settling Luke down in the bassinet as he was falling asleep.

"I think that we have much to discuss," Padme said settling Leia down next to Luke and the two babies cuddled up with each other.

"We can do that during dinner. We have plenty of time to get things straightened out," Anakin told them as he threw the cookies and batter away.

"What are you making?" Obi-Wan asked interested.

"One of my mom's recipes. I believe that we have the bantha meat," Anakin said looking in the refrigerator unit. He then pulled out a hefty slab of bantha meat and then some other ingredients. In thirty minutes he had a meal of bantha stroganoff set on the dining room table.

"A man of many talents, that is rare enough to find," Shilia said appraising the meal.

Padme smiled to herself, holding back a comment. "I'm sure that by now, Anakin and Obi-Wan had heard your story," she said addressing the new comers.

Before Anakin sat down next to Padme, he looked off towards the entrance hall. "Excuse me," he said and before anyone could utter a word he left the room and walked to the door just in time for Threepio to come in bombarded with packages closely followed by Shmi. He quickly quieted the security system before it could announce his mother. He placed a hand over his mothers mouth earning a glare from her.

"Threepio take the packages up stairs and then report to the dining room," Anakin ordered before taking his mother's arm and dragging her up stairs.

"Anakin, what is going on?" Shmi demanded before Anakin hushed her. Once they were upstairs he ushered her into her bedroom and closed the door.

"What I'm about to say will shock you as it did me," he told her.

Shmi planted her hands on her hips. "Spill," she ordered.

Anakin ran a hand through his hair and looked out the window. "There are some people downstairs that wish to see you, in fact they are rather insistent," he told her.

Shmi quickly squashed the fear that settled in the pit of her stomach. "Who?" she asked.

"They clam to be your father and sister," Anakin told her.

Shmi's eyes rounded. "What are their names?" she asked.

"Jerrome and Shilia," Anakin answered and picked up the pendant that until now, his mother never took off. He examined the design of the pendant and connected it with the design on Jerrome's hat and Shilia's choker.

Faint and jumbled memories assaulted Shmi at the mention of those names. "Do you sense duplicity from them?" she asked.

"No," Anakin said closing his fist around the pendant. "I don't know what to think of this," he confessed.

"What is their story?" Shmi asked.

Anakin turned to her. "What do you remember?" he asked.

"I remember very little, Ani," Shmi told him.

"Do you remember being kidnapped?" he asked.

A single memory came to Shmi then and she nodded. "Yes," she told him.

"They said that they have been looking for you since you were a child," Anakin told her.

"What have you told them?" Shmi asked.

"Very little. I wanted to run this by you first before anything more was said," he answered.

Shmi placed a hand on his arm. "Then lets not keep them waiting," she said.

Anakin nodded and held his arm out for her. Shmi took it before allowing Anakin to lead her downstairs and into the dining room. Upon their entrance, Jerrome and Shilia stood up and looked at Shmi in disbelief.

Anakin looked at his mother when she froze upon seeing the two other Skywalkers. "Mom?" he questioned.

Memories came back to Shmi as she stared at the two new comers. She barely heard Anakin asking if she was okay. And when Jerrome walked over to Shmi he instantly pulled her into a hug.

"At last, we've found you," Jerrome whispered.

Anakin stepped back and watched his mother's reunion with her family, their family.

"I have not informed the council of this," Obi-Wan said standing next to Anakin. "It is your choice on whether or not they will know."

"I have basically the same origins as Dooku," Anakin said hollowly.

"You are not Dooku nor will you ever be," Obi-Wan assured him.

Anakin looked at him. "I came dangerously close to it," he said.

Obi-Wan placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Dooku made his choice and so have you. The important thing is that you made the _right_ choice," he said.

Anakin looked away and continued to watch the scene. "Owen is going to have a fit," he said.

"I suppose that Owen's status as your brother make him a rich man now," Obi-Wan commented.

"Owen will never give up his farm. His father _left_ him that farm," Anakin said.

"Well, I suppose you might be right," Obi-Wan said. He then smiled. "Either way, it seems as though we might have more influence than expected," he commented.

Anakin turned to him again. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I did some research. It seems as though your family has a vast influence throughout the galaxy, even greater than Senator Organa's and he's married to the queen of Alderaan," Obi-Wan informed him.

"Enough influence to end the conflict between the CIS and the Republic?" Anakin asked.

"Possibly," Obi-Wan said and then smiled once the reunion calmed down enough for the meal to continue.

As soon as everyone took their seats again the meal commenced with a full discussion around the room on various topics. Anakin reached for Padme's hand and clasped it before mouthing the words "I love you" and procedded int telling everyone the detailed tale of his winning the Boonta Eve Classic fourteen years prior. Shmi made comments here and there about "those dreadful races" causing a mock argument over the matter between herself and her son. The topic switched over to Shmi's tale after letting Anakin go to have a better life and told her father and sister about her adopted son, Owen. After Shmi and Anakin both told their sides of the story Jerrome and Shilia spoke of their stories before the topic switched to the war with narratives by both Anakin and Obi-Wan who argued about Cato Nemoidia and who's fault it was. Padme interrupted the arguing jedi to speak about the senate's frustrations with the war which lead to Jerromes galactic influence. The topic soon became an idea on ending the conflict that has plagued the galaxy for four years. In the end things suddenly seemed to be looking up for the galaxy. Anakin took a look around the room and smiled to himself. He came to the conclusion that he _can_ have the best of both worlds and he did. He was a jedi who just happened to know the warmth of a family. He believed that this was the one thing that the jedi were lacking and hoped to see the change of that before he died.

* * *

A/N: I hope that you have enjoyed the story. I have enjoyed writing it myself as I have stated before. Don't expect an update on the sequel, "The Ties That Bind Us To The Force" until the fall. Until then, there are five chapter's already posted if you haven't already read it. Until then, continue to read my other stories.

Until a later date,

Charlie.


	53. Letter To My Readers

To my faithful readers,

I Know that you have been patiently awaiting the continuation of this storyline through it's sequels, but I am afraid that that is on an extended hiatus. I cannot presume to foresee when I will continue with the storyline. I, however, had planned to return to it this past August but as I was rereading what I had wrote in order to re-familiarize myself with the storyline, I grew painful at how poorly written the whole story was. A month ago I have decided that I will be re-writing this entire story and will be renaming it to: A Trick Of Fate. I will keep the original story up for those who had enjoyed it as it was originally written. The scheduled date for the beginning of the rewriting process is March of 2009. I am not certain when it will be finished as it took me almost a year to write this story and that was with only one story really to worry about. This will not be as much as a main priority as it once was since I have other main stories to worry about. There will be many changes to the story but main key plot points will remain.

Best wishes,

Charlie.


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